


Uptown Girl

by ChipTheKeeper



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-16 21:21:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9290099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipTheKeeper/pseuds/ChipTheKeeper
Summary: Ashlyn Harris is at rock bottom, living on the streets of New York City, when she meets Ali Krieger, an advertising executive at the top of her game. A friendship blossoms in spite of the obvious differences between the two. Could a relationship blossom as well, in spite of all the factors working against it?





	1. Fight or Flight

**Author's Note:**

> First attempt at fanfic here, so be patient with me (I'm nervous). I have a good chunk of this already written, so updates will be regular for now, but I'm sure to hit a roadblock before too long. The first couple of chapters are kind of short, but they'll get longer as we go. Feel free to comment and/or find me on tumblr @chippingthegoalkeeper. Hope you enjoy!

Despite having grown up with a reputation for being the kind of intimidating girl no one wanted to mess with, Ashlyn Harris had never been in a real fight. Sure, like any younger sister, she’d had more than a few tussles with her older brother, and of course there was that incident with the loud-mouthed boy and the dead fish that just so happened to leave his face a bloody mess, but as far as real fighting went, she was terribly inexperienced. Ashlyn had always had a way with words, so most of her battles were fought with passive-aggressive comments and biting sarcasm. Unfortunately for her, she was finding out quickly, those tactics don’t work quite as well on the streets as they do in high school hallways or at college parties. So when the tall blonde gets jumped for the first time – after a month on the street – she’s definitely out of her element. The guy after her dwindling stash of cash is smaller than her, shorter by a few inches and with less meat on his bones -- since she hasn’t been out here long enough to have fully lost hers yet -- but he’s determined, and she gets the feeling this isn’t his first bout.

She’d noticed him earlier that afternoon, when she was in the park trying as best she could to savor what little of the food she allowed herself to eat from what she’d bought at the bodega. She tried not to worry about the way he’d stared at her while she ate her little sandwich, but his persistent glare was hard to ignore. Nonetheless, once she’d finished her little meal and tucked the leftovers into one of the big pockets of her jacket, he seemed to retreat back into his own little world, and she’d forgotten about the whole scene as she watched the rest of New York go about their business in the park. But a few hours later, when she tired of people watching in Central Park and left to wander about the streets, Ashlyn was unaware that the man had begun to follow her. And once she turned down an alley, out of the glow of the early evening street lights and away from the attention of random passersby, he saw his opportunity.

Now Ashlyn finds herself with her back against the wall – literally – and no experience in hand to hand combat to help her out of this mess. So she falls back on the experience she does have. In the blink of an eye, the tall blonde pushes herself off the wall and executes a devastating drop kick almost identical to the ones she used on the soccer pitch for so many years, only this time her foot makes contact with twice as many balls as she’d ever kicked at one time on the field. Then she runs like hell.

Having been a goalkeeper, her sprinting power was rather impressive, but her endurance left something to be desired, so when Ashlyn runs out of breath several blocks later, she can only hope the kick was overwhelming enough for the distance between her and her attacker to be significant. She hunches over to regain her breath then looks around. She hadn’t been thinking about where her panicked flight was taking her, and Ashlyn suddenly finds herself in unfamiliar territory. _Unfamiliar but not threatening_ , she thinks to herself as she looks up at the fancy office building she’d stopped in front of. This was clearly as classy a neighborhood as you could find in the city.

Thankfully that was the case, for as soon as she decides such, a familiar pain shoots through her left knee. Ashlyn grimaces in pain, gritting her teeth as she stumbles to come to a rest against the building. She curses her historically horrible knees as she sinks down to the concrete. Massaging the unreliable joint, Ashlyn assesses that she’s now too far from the park to make it back before nightfall, not that she wants to try it on the now throbbing knee, anyway. She sighs, knowing that attempting to sleep on the concrete will be even more unsettling than doing so in the park. At least in the park the grass is somewhat soft and she can make a bed of sorts from the fallen leaves. But out here, she’ll only have her jacket for comfort.

Still, Ashlyn suddenly feels an overwhelming need to rest, and in front of the swanky office building seems as good a place as any, so she shucks off her jacket and balls it up before resting her head on it and closing her eyes. She doesn’t expect to fall asleep anytime soon, but she figures as long as it looks like she’s sleeping, no one will bother her. As she curls up into as tight a ball as she can manage, Ashlyn reflects on just how lucky she was only minutes before. She knows she has to change her approach if she’s going to last much longer out here -- _not that lasting on the street is the_ real _goal_ , she reminds herself – because carrying cash (even just the little she still has) but no weapon is not a great idea. She tells herself she’ll try to figure that out in the morning, not one to procrastinate such important matters usually but reasoning that she’s been through enough tonight to have earned a little bit of a break.

Ashlyn tries to clear her mind as she lays on the rock hard surface, willing herself to believe that she’s actually laying in the park, or better yet in an actual bed, or even better yet in the hammock that used to swing between the palm trees outside her grandma’s house back in Florida. Even the memory of that was so far away now, but Ashlyn could almost feel the gentle sway of the ocean breeze if she concentrated hard enough. She didn’t allow herself to think like this very often, knowing there was a fine line to walk out here when it came to memories – if you let them get too real, actual reality was likely to slip right out of your grasp. But tonight she lets the comforting thoughts of her grandmother’s house lull her to sleep, knowing full well she’ll have to deal with the emotional consequences of that decision in the morning as well.


	2. Rude Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more for today because they're short. Let me know what you think!

Ashlyn doesn’t have time to worry about the consequences of the previous night the next morning, for she finds herself aroused from her slumber by a shoe to her ribcage. She groans in agony, not because the shoe in question had kicked her -- it was merely a nudge – but because hours of sleeping on concrete has a way of making one’s entire body hurt in a way that’s different from any hurt Ashlyn’s previously encountered. So, naturally, she’s not in that great of a mood when she finally looks up at the owner of the heeled shoe, which she notes is probably worth a couple hundred times more than the sum of everything she has on her at the current moment.

“What, are you fucking deaf? I said move it,” the owner of the shoe demands, one hand on her hip, the other gesturing wildly.

Ashlyn sits up slowly (she couldn’t have moved faster if she’d wanted to, but she definitely does not want to) and eyes the woman. As if the shoe didn’t look expensive enough, the other shoe and the outfit to go along with them would certainly solidify her social status. The dirty blonde haired woman wears a tight skirt and a blouse with one more button undone than Ashlyn would have thought necessary, and her makeup is caked on behind her designer sunglasses.

The sunglasses get whipped off in a flash as the woman turns around and addresses her companion, of whom Ashlyn has just taken notice. “I guess she is deaf! For god’s sake, what is going on with this city?!” she exclaims at the brunette beside her, similarly dressed although all the necessary buttons are tastefully fastened on her blouse.

Ashlyn finally wakes up enough to find her voice. “Jesus, lady, what is stuck up your ass?” _Probably should have let it stay lost_ , she thinks as soon as the words slip off her tongue.

The blonde woman whips back around dramatically. “Excuse me?” she squeaks. “Who do you think you are? You cannot just sleep out here, outside _my_ office building, making _my_ company look bad, and then speak to me like that! If you’re not out of here in the next thirty seconds, I’m calling the cops.”

The woman begins to stare Ashlyn down for several seconds before a crisp late September breeze blows her hair up to cover her face and she finally huffs in aggravation and marches inside, leaving both Ashlyn and the brunette woman to take in her dramatic exit. Ashlyn bites back an amused snort, begins to stand up and finally turns to the other woman.

“I’m not counting, are you counting?” she asks. The brunette just quirks an eyebrow in confusion. “She didn’t stay to count, so I assume you have to stay out here until I leave?”

“Oh. N-no, I just -- want to apologize for her, actually,” the woman stammers, “I don’t know what that was all about, but you can take your time. I-I mean - well, she’s already gone upstairs and I don’t really care what you do, so…” she trails off, clearly shaken by something, but by what, Ashlyn can’t imagine.

“Is she always such a bitch?” Ashlyn asks, unable to stop herself from saying whatever the fuck comes to mind this morning, apparently.

The brunette just chuckles, though. “Yeah, kind of. But it’s also kind of her job.”

“That does not sound like a job I’d want,” Ashlyn muses, then internally rolls her eyes at herself because she knows she’s in no position to be picky about any kind of job, no matter how bitchy she’d be required to be.

“It’s not for everyone,” says the brunette, shuffling uncomfortably from one modestly-heeled foot to the other. She opens her mouth to speak again, closes it, then closes her eyes and sighs shortly before opening them again. “Look, I know it’s none of my business but, um, there’s a shelter just a couple blocks down from here. It’s a nice place, and I’m sure the beds there are way more comfortable than this sidewalk.”

Ashlyn is a bit taken aback by the woman’s statement. The brunette in front of her most definitely has never spent any time as a guest in a homeless shelter, Ashlyn decides based on her appearance and her apparently important job, so how exactly she would be qualified to label the place as “nice” is questionable in Ashlyn’s mind. But she detects real concern in the woman’s voice, although she’s not sure why it’s there and she definitely doesn’t know how to respond to it. As she processes the information and the brunette’s gentle tone, she can’t help but take in the beautiful sight in front of her. Unlike the woman she’d been about to enter the building with, the brunette’s makeup is subtle but practically perfect, highlighting all the attractive features of her face (there are many, in fact Ashlyn can’t seem to find a flaw anywhere). Her eyes are especially stunning, and Ashlyn gets caught up in the woman’s cinnamon brown irises for just a moment too long before finally responding.

“Um, okay. Yeah, I’ll…I guess I’ll check it out,” the blonde says awkwardly before regaining her cool. She smiles a self-deprecating smile, showing off her dimple as she confesses “Sidewalks definitely aren’t good substitutes for beds.”

With that, Ashlyn expects the woman to walk away and enter the office building, but she instead smiles at her almost apologetically before reaching into her purse and pulling out a couple of twenty dollar bills.

“I know it’s not much, but…” she says, offering the money to Ashlyn, who just pushes the woman’s hand back towards her body.

“I don’t want that,” she says, sighing. The woman retracts her hand and stammers an apology, believing she’s offended Ashlyn, but the blonde quickly adds, “No, I mean, that’s really nice of you, but I don’t just take money from people. I don’t take anything I don’t earn.”

“I see,” says the brunette. “That’s very respectable, I guess.” They share an awkward pause for a moment before the businesswoman speaks up again. “Well, I guess I better get inside then.”

“Yeah, it’s been way longer than thirty seconds. Your friend’s probably got the cops on their way by now, so I better make myself scarce,” Ashlyn jokes. She grabs her jacket from off the ground and takes a few steps away before pausing to turn around. “Which way did you say that shelter was again?”

“Oh, just a few blocks that way,” the brunette says, pointing west.

“Gotcha. Thanks,” Ashlyn replies, setting off in that direction before she has a chance to hear the other woman’s whispered “you’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel like I should add a disclaimer that I have never been homeless, so this story is in no way meant to be an accurate description of what that life is like (although I did try to do some research and I hope that helps).


	3. Taking Care of Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments guys! Don't hesitate to give me your opinions.

As Ali Krieger rides the elevator up to her floor of the office building, she’s still trying to process the whole interaction with the homeless woman. Obviously as a resident of New York City, she’d had plenty of run-ins with homeless individuals – it was nearly impossible to avoid that these days – but she’d never had an experience quite like that. Like most New Yorkers, Ali had a tendency to ignore them in her day to day life. There were so many people on the street these days that it was almost like they were a part of the architecture of the city. Although unlike with all the unique buildings, tourists would not receive any fun facts about their history.

If it hadn’t been for Amanda’s rather extreme reaction to the presence of the blonde woman on the sidewalk, Ali likely would have ignored her like she did all the other homeless people she passed on a day to day basis. But the moment they’d walked up close enough to see her and Amanda gasped in horror, Ali had known this wasn’t a situation that was going to go away smoothly. Being two of the top executives at a successful New York advertising agency, both Ali and Amanda were keenly aware of the value of their company’s image, and unfortunately for the woman outside, Amanda believed that even the presence of homeless people outside their office building could have a drastically negative effect on said image. While Ali for the most part agreed that it might not be the best practice to start allowing folks to camp out by the office building, she certainly didn’t think that treating people the way Amanda had that morning was any way to do business either.

Ali has to restrain herself from telling Amanda as much when she finally reaches their floor of the building, unlocking the office right next door to her friend’s as the blonde executive calls out, “Did you get rid of her?”

Ali, not in the mood for any more confrontation on this particular morning, pokes her head into Amanda’s office and simply responds, “I took care of it,” before entering her own office and shutting the door. Ali knows she should put the whole scene behind her and get started with the day, but she can’t help but dwell on the interaction with the blonde outside. She hopes the woman took her up on the suggestion about the shelter. Having volunteered there on several previous occasions, she knows it really is a decent place for people down on their luck, but something about the way the blonde had spoken gave Ali the feeling that she probably felt like she didn’t need that kind of help.

Ali is pulled out of her thoughts about the homeless woman when she hears a knock at her door and looks up to see her assistant, Josh, peeking in the glass panel next to it.

“Come on in, Josh,” she calls. The young man opens the door with his elbow, one hand holding a tray of coffees and the other taken up by a stack of files. Once inside, he offers the files to his boss first. He grins as she raises an eyebrow at him until he hands her what she really needs to get the day started.

As Ali takes her first sip of coffee, letting the warmth and the caffeine take effect immediately, Josh places the files on the end of her desk and sits down in one of the chairs across from her, his face uncharacteristically serious.

“Okay, I know you hate starting the day with bad news and I know I should really wait until you’re at least done with that coffee before I tell you this, but I also know I can’t really wait another minute to tell you,” he blurts out in one long string of words. Ali is just about to ask what the hell he’s talking about when he sighs dramatically and continues, “I’m putting in my two weeks’ notice.”

He pauses, cringing as he awaits his boss’s reaction, and it takes a few seconds for the statement to get through to Ali’s mind. “Wait, what? You’re leaving?”

Josh tells Ali the rather detailed story of how he recently made the decision to go back to school full time, starting with a few mid-semester classes beginning in the next couple of weeks. As happy as Ali is for her young assistant, she can’t help but feel a little sad at the idea of him leaving. Josh has been fantastic ever since he began working for her three years ago. Not to mention the fact that he reminds Ali of her brother, whom she does not get to see as often as she likes.

“Like I said, I know you don’t like news like this so early,” he continues, “but I just thought I’d give you as much warning as possible. God knows it’s gonna be hard to find a replacement as fabulous as me!”

“If by ‘hard’ you mean impossible!” she exclaims, frowning at him as he stands up and slides the files on her desk closer to her.

“I know, Boss. I’m so sorry. But no crying over me now, you’ve got work to do!” he reminds her before bounding from the room. Ali shakes her head at his boisterous personality before finally opening the top file and immersing herself in her work for the day, the incident with the woman outside finally shaken from her thoughts.

***

When Ashlyn walks away from the brunette that morning, she has no intention of actually going to check out the shelter the woman had recommended. The blonde had tried the shelter route a few weeks back, quickly coming to the conclusion that the roof over her head wasn’t worth having to share a living space with a several dozen other people, a good number of whom had made not so subtle attempts at swiping her stuff. Since then, the blonde had steered clear of the places and kept to herself.

But the farther down the street Ashlyn gets from the office building, the more she considers the brunette’s sincere recommendation. She figures she might as well at least see where the place is, in case she wants to come back by later. Like in a month or two when the weather turns unbearably cold. She also reasons with herself that she owes the kind woman at least to keep her word that she’d check it out. She hates lying to people, even people she doesn’t know, and although it’s unlikely the two will meet again, Ashlyn hates the idea that she might have been dishonest with the kind ( _and incredibly beautiful but surely that has nothing to do with this, right?_ ) stranger.

Just like the woman said, a few blocks down from the office building Ashlyn finds the shelter, wedged between a church ( _no thank you_ ) and a pawn shop ( _that could be useful_ ). The blonde takes a deep breath before heading inside, where she signs herself in and over the next couple of hours experiences a tour, a shower, a hot meal and absolutely no one who expresses any interest in taking her things. While all that is nice, Ashlyn admits, she’s still not sure about it, as it seems to be more of a place for families. Children are running about everywhere and it’s not by any means quiet, which bothers the blonde a bit. But as she takes a seat on the bed she’s been given for her first night, she finds she’s able to relax more than she has at any point in the last month. She pulls out the small notepad and pen she keeps in one of the inner pockets of her jacket and begins to jot down some of her thoughts, making two lists: one of things she needs to get if she stays on the streets (some sort of weapon, a backpack, a heavier coat), and one of things she needs to do to get herself off the streets (get a job, get a job, get a job).

Ashlyn knows the solution to her current situation isn’t as simple as just getting a job – hell, just getting a job isn’t by any means simple – but it would go a long way. And as much as she would love to go back to the job she had before all of this mess had gone down, she knew that was not an option at this point. When her editor at the newspaper had fired her, she couldn’t blame him – it wasn’t worth keeping around a reporter who couldn’t show up to work – but now she had no reason not to be able to show up to work, and yet the newspaper had already long since filled her position. So the blonde had resolved to apply to other papers, but no one had called her about any of her applications (at least, the last time she’d checked her now dead phone they hadn’t). She knew she’d soon have to start applying to different places, shooting for smaller goals before climbing her way back into her old life.

For now, though, she figures she might as well get to work on her other list. She reaches into another inner pocket on her jacket, turning around to face the wall, away from prying eyes as she counts the cash in her wallet. Figuring she has enough to pick up a few things on her list, she leaves the shelter and slips into the pawn shop next door. Ashlyn wanders around for a bit, taking in all the random stuff the shop has to offer before focusing in on the collection of knives for sale. With the help of the shop attendant, she picks one out, a sleek switchblade within her price range that should come in handy to scare off the next person who tries to mess with her.

As she goes to leave the shop, Ashlyn spots a guitar on display in the window, smiling to herself as she recognizes it as the same model as the one she used to play. The black Fender acoustic had always made her quite a hit with the ladies when her little college band had played some of the crappier bars in the city. Out of curiosity, she inquires about the price of the instrument, frowning when the shop worker gives a number that would just about drain her of all the cash she had left. With one last wistful glance at the beautiful black guitar, Ashlyn leaves the pawn shop and goes back to the shelter, ready to settle down for her first night indoors for quite some time.


	4. Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more interaction between our faves to help get you through your Sunday. Have a great week, everybody!

Ashlyn’s first night indoors in nearly a month does not pass as peacefully as she had hoped.

After a nice dinner and an evening of watching the little kids run around the main living area, the blonde had laid down with her head on a pillow and a blanket over her body, feeling like things were starting to look up. But no more than two hours later, she awakens from a pleasant dream – one in which she’s playing guitar to a room full of adoring women – to the cries of an infant, whose racket inevitably wakes up every other child under the age of five. Within minutes it seems as though every child in the place is crying, and although the rest of the childless adults around Ashlyn sleep right through it, or just pretend to, the blonde finds herself wide awake for the next several hours. Even after the last kid has been hushed back to sleep, Ashlyn tosses and turns, the bed underneath her suddenly too soft, and she curses herself for even thinking such a thing.

Ashlyn feels herself finally drifting back off to sleep when suddenly another baby begins to wail _. This cannot be happening_ , she thinks, rolling over once again as the whole scene from earlier begins anew. Before she takes the time to really think about this decision, the blonde is out the door. She’s not sure if she should have checked out or if she’s breaking some sort of shelter rule, but she really doesn’t care at this point. Despite the warmth and the comforting atmosphere of the place, Ashlyn knows a light sleeper like herself won’t be able to stay there. So she leaves.

Fully exhausted from the restless night and thinking back to the undisturbed sleep she’d had the previous night, Ashlyn finds herself heading back to the office building she’d been shooed away from. She settles herself in the same place as the night before, telling herself that this time she’ll get up and move before the fancy blonde bitch has a chance to yell at her again.

***

Of course, Ashlyn doesn’t get up early enough to avoid another high heeled shoe to the ribs. The sleepless hours from the night before, combined with whatever it is that seemed to make this particular spot so quiet and relatively comfortable, rendered the blonde thoroughly unconscious until she receives the same rude awakening as she had the morning before. This time, though, the dirty blonde woman with the over-priced footwear isn’t bothering to speak to her. She has her phone to her ear, Ashlyn observes as she tries to fully wake up, and she seems to be calling the police without the courtesy of yesterday’s thirty second warning.

Fortunately for the still-dazed Ashlyn, the kind brunette is back again also, and the woman is doing her best to talk her friend out of making a scene.

“Amanda, just let it go, okay? She’s not hurting anyone,” Ali says, reaching for Amanda’s phone and pulling it away from her ear. “Look, I’ll talk to her. Just go inside and get started on the presentation. Please?”

After a pause to give her friend a menacing look, Amanda ends her call and makes a dramatic exit for the second morning in a row, looking back briefly to announce, “This is the last time. I’m dead fucking serious.”

This time Ashlyn can’t contain a chuckle, “She sure is a delight in the mornings, huh?”

“Again, I’m so sorry for how she’s acting, she’s usually not _that_ rude,” the brunette admits before turning her attention back to Ashlyn. “But I gotta say, I really didn’t expect to see you back here. What happened to checking out the shelter?”

Ashlyn shrugs. “I checked it out.”

“And?”

“And did you know there are one hundred percent fewer crying children on this sidewalk than there are in there?” she asks rhetorically. “Well, at least until your friend gets here.”

Ali can’t help but chuckle a little at this woman’s wit. Her sense of humor and attitude are not at all what she would expect from someone in her situation.

Ashlyn tries her best to keep her heartbeat under control as the brunette’s laugh resonates in her brain. _Damn, what a sound_. She plays it cool, though, scratching at the back of her neck as she continues. “Seriously though, thanks for the recommendation. I just don’t think it’s gonna work out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ali says sincerely. “And I’m sorry I don’t have a better recommendation for you. But please, for your own sake, do not come back here again tonight. I can only keep her off your case for so long.”

“But this is seriously the most comfortable sidewalk in the city,” Ashlyn quips. “You should tell her to try it sometime. Might do her good to get a little perspective. And then, you know, a spinal readjustment.”

Ali shakes her head in amusement as the blonde stretches her back, her vertebrae popping with every little movement. “That may be true, but it’s never going to happen. Seriously, just…find somewhere else. Find a different building on this block maybe, or hell, just sleep here and then leave before we get here; she’ll never know the difference.”

“Oddly enough, that was the plan today,” Ashlyn offers.

“Well, make it work next time, all right? I’ve got to get going. I do NOT want to have this conversation again tomorrow,” the brunette points at the woman, glaring playfully as she starts to make her way inside.

“You got it, Boss,” Ashlyn answers with a sarcastic salute, watching the executive stroll inside and thinking it was a view she could certainly get used to. _I’m definitely not going anywhere else_.

***

The next morning, Ashlyn wakes up again in front of the office building. This time it’s the alarm on her pay-as-you-go phone stirring her from her slumber, not a bitchy woman’s foot, since she figured out when she needed to get out of there in time to avoid the businesswoman’s wrath.

After the dramatics of the previous morning, Ashlyn had gone back to the shelter and asked if it would be possible for her to use the facilities there to shower and wash her clothes without actually sleeping there. The nice people working said that wouldn’t be a problem and had offered Ashlyn a locker to store some of the items she didn’t need to carry with her all the time. The blonde took them up on the offer, leaving later with her jacket pockets quite a bit lighter than they’d been in a while.

Now Ashlyn heads back to the shelter, wanting to take a shower and change her clothes before she sets off looking for work. Having gotten a decent night’s sleep and avoided another confrontation with Amanda (or “the bitch” as Ashlyn referred to her in her head despite now knowing her real name), the blonde felt optimistic that she’d make some progress on the employment front today.

By the late afternoon, though, that optimistic feeling had been all but wiped away, as each place she’d entered had told her they simply weren’t hiring. Ashlyn tries not to feel too down about it, telling herself she’ll just expand her search the next day, but as she trudges back toward the shelter, she feels fully depressed.

As the blonde passes the pawn shop next door to the shelter, the guitar in the window catches her eye again, and she has a bit of a lightbulb moment. She’s seen people all over the city getting money thrown at them as they play instruments, and only about half of them seemed to be any good at it. Surely she’d be able to make a good bit of revenue off of her own talent – enough to pay off the purchase of the guitar, at least. Ashlyn takes out her wallet and counts the cash inside, even though she already knows exactly how much is left of the money she took out of her savings before she began living on the street. She calculates that she’ll barely have any left if she makes this incredibly stupid decision, but she goes inside anyway.

 


	5. Sidewalk Serenade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be a little slower going forward, but I promise you I'm not nearly finished with this. Enjoy!

Ten minutes after using up almost all her money to purchase the guitar and a case to go with it, Ashlyn plops herself down in front of the office building and begins to tune the instrument. She's admittedly a little nervous. Even when she'd been playing regularly with her college band, she'd always had a bit of stage fright (although alcohol usually helped alleviate most of that). This, however -- playing on the street in front of everyone who happened to pass by -- was a whole different animal. Not to mention she was still attempting to talk herself into the idea that this had been a good investment, although the time for regrets about the decision had already passed.

As she goes about tuning the guitar, though, she finds that it's soothing. Doing this thing she would have done in her old life brings her comfort, and before she knows it she's playing again. All her worries disappear in the moment as she concentrates on fingering the chords she's committed to memory from her favorite songs. Little by little, the early evening commuters passing by on the sidewalk begin to fill the guitar case with their spare change and small bills.

Ashlyn's mind drifts as she loses herself in the music she's creating. She thinks back to the last period in her life when she'd been able to play on a regular basis. It was before her grandma had gotten sick again. Before the stress and medical bills began to mount, before all of her time was occupied with trying to make sure the woman's limited amount of time on earth passed as comfortably as possible. It was a happier time, an easier time. When she didn't have to worry about where her next meal would come from or where she would be able to find a somewhat restful night's sleep. She'd had a job, an apartment in her favorite city in the world, great friends, and so much hope for the future. But then Gram's cancer had returned, and everything had gone downhill in a hurry.

The blonde tries not to focus on that part now. Instead she picks a happy tune to play and makes a conscious effort to smile at everyone who passes her. She hopes the smile doesn't look too fake. She'd been working on making it look real in spite of her current situation. After all she's been through, it definitely isn't easy to act so relentlessly cheerful, as she'd been attempting, but she feels she owes it to her grandma to continue their tradition of smiling through the pain. So Ashlyn plasters a grin across her face as she plays for the people of Manhattan.

***

Ali isn't in much of a mood for her date as she rides the elevator down at the end of her work day. Amanda had come down with the flu, leaving Ali to cover all her work for the day as well as her own, and even though it was still early, the hunt for Josh's replacement wasn't going very well. The brunette tries to tell herself that an evening out with her boyfriend is just what she needs to take her mind off of the hectic work week (although it's only Thursday, still one more day to go), but when she trips on her high heel as she tries to exit the elevator, she's not sure she shouldn't just call it a night.

Still distracted as she exits the building to wait outside for Derrick to pick her up, Ali manages not to notice the blonde sitting on the sidewalk. She's currently shouting out invitations for song requests, having run out of songs to play off the top of her head. And although Ali is too caught up in her own thoughts to take notice of her, Ashlyn's full attention goes to the brunette instantly. It would be hard for it not to, as Ali had changed from her regular work outfit of a skirt and blouse to an extremely flattering black dress and high heels. The blonde's shouts get caught in her throat when she first gets a glimpse of the woman's calves, and it's all she can do to keep shouting nonsense at citizens in an effort to keep her cool.

"Come on people, you've gotta give me something to work with or it's gonna be Wonderwall all night," she threatens. "No one wants that."

Ashlyn hoped that would attract the brunette's attention, but she quickly realizes the woman is off in her own little world. So she strums a loud chord and speaks directly to her this time, "What about you, Miss Fancy? Got any requests?"

The familiar voice finally breaks through to Ali's consciousness and she turns around quickly to see the blonde homeless woman camped out in her usual spot, this time accompanied by a big black guitar and case littered with money.

"Oh my gosh, look at you!" Ali exclaims, forgoing the urge to ask why on earth the blonde had bothered to show up there again knowing the possibility that she could get the authorities called on her.

"What do you think of my new toy?" Ashlyn asks with a melodious strum of the guitar.

"Looks nice," Ali laughs, "but can you play it?"

"Can I play it?" Another loud strum. "Psh. What do you think?" she asks as she gestures to the money in the case.

"Well I don't know what to think. All I've heard is you yelling at people. Maybe they just feel sorry for you," Ali teases, before her face turns to a look of horror at her words she realizes could have offended the blonde. But Ashlyn just laughs.

"Funny lady. Just remember, you brought this on yourself," Ashlyn warns as she begins to play into the first lines of Wonderwall, shout-singing the lyrics in the brunette's direction before the well-dressed woman finally gets her to shut up.

"Oh my god, okay, I get it! Please, no more!" Ali begs, laughing heartily. "I won't doubt your skills, just please, no more of that!"

Ashlyn laughs as she stops singing but continues to play the song, fully enamored by the businesswoman's smile and easy laugh. "All right, all right. So, what are you all dressed up for, huh?"

"Oh, just a lil' date night," Ali replies with a flip of her hair, suddenly feeling much better about the direction of the evening after her worries had been erased by the singing woman’s antics. She's surprised by how easy it is to converse with the blonde, how natural their banter seems to be, and how much she enjoys it when the woman on the sidewalk makes her laugh.

"Sounds like a good time," Ashlyn says, doing a good job of hiding the disappointment she (unreasonably) feels at the news. "You don't need me to come along to serenade for the occasion, do you?"

"Nah, I think we're good," Ali answers, although she's intrigued to hear more of the blonde's playing and her real singing voice. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Ashlyn strums once again. "Depends. Do I get to ask you something back?"

"I don't see why not."

"Then shoot."

"Why do you keep coming back here?" Ali asks. "You know Amanda's on her last nerve with you."

Ashlyn rolls her eyes. "I've never been one to let girls like that tell me what to do." She pauses, considering her next words. "Plus, I kind of like talking to you."

Ali smiles sweetly. "I like talking to you, too."

"Good. My turn now."

"Okaaayy. Do your worst," Ali invites the blonde.

"Why _do_ you talk to me? I mean, why were you even nice to me that first day?" Ashlyn implores.

The brunette purses her lips and pulls her eyebrows together in concentration, trying to find the words to give the blonde an honest answer. The truth was, she never even considered being anything less than kind to the woman. Part of this was just Ali's nature as a sweet and generous person. But she knew there was another reason she tended to treat people with more compassion than others did, and that reason was Kyle.

"Well, to be honest, you remind me of someone," Ali says cryptically, hoping the blonde will take the bait. She does, asking "who?" but before the brunette gets a chance to answer, their conversation is interrupted by a shout from an SUV that's just parked next to the curb.

"Hey, Ali, you ready?" a man's voice asks.

Ali turns around to see Derrick in the driver's seat of the black Escalade, looking expectantly through the open window. She smiles and waves to him.

"Yeah, just one second!" She turns back to the blonde with an apologetic smile. "Guess that's a question for another day. I'll see you around?"

"I'll be here all week," Ashlyn replies, strumming the guitar again. She smiles as she realizes this is the first time she's heard the brunette's name.

"You do know tomorrow's Friday, right?" Ali shouts as she gets into the car, winking at the blonde before closing the door.

Ashlyn just shakes her head in amusement. She hadn't actually known that tomorrow was Friday -- she couldn't exactly carry a calendar around with her and didn't check her phone often enough to keep up with that sort of thing. As she watches the big black SUV drive way, she can't help but think the following Saturday and Sunday will be the hardest days she's had in a while.

Inside the Escalade, Derrick’s first question to his girlfriend is "Why were you talking to that homeless person?"

"My day was fine, thanks for asking," Ali sasses in response, choosing for now to ignore the fact that her boyfriend of two years seemed to think her above simply conversing with the homeless.

"Sorry babe," he apologizes, reaching for her hand and giving it a kiss. "How _was_ your day?"

Ten minutes earlier, Ali would have answered completely differently, but after the conversation with the blonde, she doesn't feel like she's being dishonest when she answers with a grin.

"It was pretty good."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I actually really like Wonderwall (it holds a special place in my heart), but it's just too good of a joke to pass up. Let me know what you think (and feel free to give your own song requests)!


	6. Peaceful Easy Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kind words so far! Sorry to keep y'all waiting.

When Ali arrives at her office building the following day, she has to admit she’s a little disappointed not to see the blonde guitar player. That is, until she realizes the woman has no way of knowing that Amanda wouldn’t be at work that day, still out sick. She’d obviously kept her word that she would either find somewhere else to sleep or move before they got to work. Still, Ali hopes the blonde will also keep her word that she’d be there “all week.”

Ali and Derrick had had a perfectly decent evening out together, followed by a perfectly decent night of intimacy at her place afterward, but by the time they’d settled down for the night, Ali’s mind had drifted back to her earlier conversation on the sidewalk. As Derrick had wrapped his sweaty frame around her and drifted off with a light snore resonating in her ear, Ali couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde woman. What was her story anyway? How had she come to be living on the street? She seemed talented and quick-witted, so why was she in a situation like that? And why, despite being in that situation, did she seem so upbeat all of the time?

Ali had eventually fallen asleep with all these questions swirling around in her head, and when she gets to her office building, the same thoughts find their way back to the forefront of her mind. The advertising executive racks her brain for ways to help the woman as she rides the elevator up to her floor. _It’ll have to be something subtle_ , Ali thinks as she finally enters her office, knowing from their past interactions that the blonde takes pride in earning what she’s given. _If you’re too upfront she’ll turn it right down_.

“Mornin’ Boss!” Josh’s greeting pulls Ali back to the present as he strides into her office with her coffee. “Sooo, how was date night?”

“It was fiiine,” the brunette responds, adopting his sing-song voice.

“Just fine?” her assistant questions. “That’s what you get for being in a relationship for two. Whole. Years,” he scoffs. “Boring.”

“It wasn’t boring, Josh,” Ali defends. “It was great, just, you know…normal.”

Josh rolls his eyes before smirking at her conspiratorially. “Did you at least get some after?”

“Josh!” Ali exclaims, then smirks back at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Probably not, actually,” he deadpans. “Aaannyyway….Amanda called and said she’ll do some of her work from home today, so you’re off the hook there. Also your lunch appointment cancelled.”

“Cancelled or rescheduled?” Ali implores with a worried look.

“Um, cancelled?” he looks down at his notepad. “Yeah, cancelled. Why?”

“That was my best candidate for your replacement,” the brunette laments. “Now what am I gonna do?”

“Oh, Ali, you’re being way too picky about this whole thing,” Josh says with a wave of his hand. “Seriously, anybody could do this job. Nothing I do is that hard. Plus you’re so easy to work for.”

“Sounds like I’ve been paying you too much,” she jokes.

“Ha ha. But for real, Boss. Just find somebody you get along with who like, knows how to read, and you’re golden,” Josh advises. “Obviously no one will ever be as good as meee. . . But still, you’re trying too hard here.”

Ali just sighs. “Okay, I’ll try to relax a bit. Thank you, Josh.”

“You got it, Boss.” He salutes her as he places the day’s stack of work on her desk and retreats out of her office.

***

Several hours later, Ali’s growling stomach reminds her that she needs to stop working and take a break for lunch. Having planned on a meeting out with the candidate to replace her assistant, she didn’t pack her lunch, so Ali decides she’ll have to get up and leave the office for a midday meal.

The brunette is halfway through the building’s lobby when she hears a sound that brings a smile to her face. Clearly the blonde woman has returned to her post outside, because the melodious sound of the guitar can be heard all the way at the office’s front desk. Ali stops to ask the receptionist there if that had been going on all morning.

“Pretty much,” the girl replies. “She’s good, though. Everybody that comes in seems to like it.”

Ali smiles wider at that, turning once again to go through the revolving door. Once she’s outside, she can finally make out the words the blonde is singing.

“” _Cause I get a peaceful, easy feelin'._  
And I know you won’t let me down,  
‘Cause I’m already standin'  
On the ground.”

Ali stops to take in the lyrics as the blonde moves on to the instrumental solo, still unaware of the brunette’s presence. The executive has to admit she appreciates the song choice. Her father had been a big fan of The Eagles, so she and Kyle had grown up learning all the greatest of their hits as Ken had played their records over and over. As she thinks about those times with her father and brother, Ali suddenly realizes how quickly she could solve two of her most pressing puzzles with one simple act.

Halfway through the guitar solo of Peaceful Easy Feeling, Ashlyn feels a presence to her right and looks up to see who was suddenly casting a shadow over her. When she sees the beautiful brunette who’s been taking up all her thoughts lately, her fingers stumble over the guitar strings and before she knows it her pick flies out of her hand and lands two feet away.

Ali casually bends to retrieve the flyaway pick, handing it back to the blonde. “Well, damn. That was just getting good.”

“Shit, thanks, yeah. . . ” Ashlyn mumbles, thoroughly embarrassed. “You kinda startled me.”

“I can see that,” Ali smirks. She gestures to the guitar case full of cash and coins. “Looks like you’ve been doing all right up until now, though.”

“Yeah, I’ve had a good morning,” Ashlyn replies, having recovered her cool. “Probably need to give my fingers a break, though,” she muses as she inspects the cuts threatening to form on the fingertips of her left hand.

“Well good, because, um,” Ali starts. “Because I wanted to ask if you’d like to have lunch with me.”

“Okay,” Ashlyn shrugs.

“Really? You will?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“But you said okay.”

“Yeah, because you said you wanted to ask. You haven’t actually asked yet,” Ashlyn pointed out. She knew she was stalling, being a bit of a sarcastic ass to the brunette to avoid having to deal with the butterflies that popped up in her stomach when the woman made her suggestion.

The brunette just shakes her head. “You got me there. Okay, here we go then. Would you,” Ali gestures at the blonde, “um. . .” she pauses, realizing she was about to attempt to use the woman’s name but she doesn’t even know it.

“Ashlyn,” the blonde provides, gesturing to herself.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I never asked before,” Ali apologizes.

“It's okay. Not like I ever asked yours either,” the blonde replies with a smirk before adding, “Ali.”

“Wait, how did you—“

“Heard your man friend say it last night,” Ashlyn cuts her off with a shit-eating grin. “What’s _his_ name?”

Ali rolls her eyes. “I’ll tell you if you go to lunch with me, Ashlyn.”

The smile that had been growing on Ashlyn’s face begins to fade. As much as she has to admit she’d love nothing more than to spend an hour or so talking to Ali, she can’t ignore the voice in her head that tells her that’s not a good idea. Their conversations on the sidewalk are one thing, but what does a girl like Ali really have to gain from befriending someone like her?

“Aw, I dunno,” she finally says, looking down as she speaks. “Don’t think a fancy business lady such as yourself wants to be seen out with the likes of me.”

“If by the likes of you, you mean someone who’s talented, sweet, and has a great sense of humor, you bet your ass I would,” Ali tries to reassure her. “Come on, I promise we won’t go anywhere ‘fancy’” she says with air quotes around the last word.

Ashlyn eyes her for a moment, trying to gauge the woman’s sincerity. She has no reason to doubt that Ali genuinely wants to get to know her, based on their interactions so far, but she’s still apprehensive about the possibility of opening up to someone so obviously above her. But in the end, Ashlyn succumbs to the brunette’s puppy dog eyes.

“Yeah, all right,” she agrees, attempting to sound nonchalant. “But don’t even think about paying for me.”

“Are you kidding? You’re the one with a case full of cash,” Ali jokes with a wink, noting the blonde’s appreciative smile at her words.

After Ali takes the blonde’s guitar and case inside and makes sure the girl at the front desk can keep an eye on it while they’re out, the women walk down the street to a little café where they take a seat in a booth by the window and place their orders with the waitress. Long seconds, possibly minutes, tick by in awkward silence as Ashlyn stares out the glass panel while Ali meticulously folds the paper wrapper that had housed her straw. Ali knows she's the one expected to speak, as she'd been the one to invite the blonde to lunch, but she can't for the life of her figure out where to start. She has so many questions, so many things she wants to find out about the woman across from her, so much curiosity surrounding the blonde, not to mention a big offer to make. But she can't get her brain to land on a good starting point. So she's incredibly relieved when Ashlyn suddenly breaks the silence.

"So, what's his name?"

"What?" Ali asks dumbly, dropping the straw wrapper as she looks up.

"The guy from last night," Ashlyn clarifies. "You said you'd tell me his name."

Ali lets out a relaxed sigh as she tells Ashlyn her boyfriend's name and the two make small talk about the brunette's relationship. By the time a waitress brings their food, the two have settled in to an easy discussion. As their lunches disappear, they find out they have some things in common. Neither is originally from the city, both having moved there for college (Ashlyn at NYU, Ali at Columbia) and never looked back. Both played soccer throughout their youth and into college but had their careers cut short due to injuries -- Ashlyn's jaw almost hits the floor when Ali tells her about the pulmonary embolism she'd suffered and how she almost died.

They're reaching the end of an animated conversation about their surprisingly similar music tastes when Ali finally looks down at her phone and sees that they've been there for just over an hour and she needs to get back to the office.

Ashlyn notices the disappointed look on the woman's face. "It's time to get back to work, huh?"

"Yeah. . ." Ali admits sadly. She can't deny the two had a great time at lunch and that she'd smiled more and laughed harder in that hour than she has in a long time. But at the same time she knows she didn't really get any of her burning questions answered, and she still has yet to make Ashlyn the offer she'd had the intent of making when she asked her to lunch.

As the two get up and leave the cafe, and Ali's trying to think of a way to make her offer, Ashlyn speaks up.

"So you never answered my last question last night," she says as they walk ever so slowly toward the office building. When Ali just looks at her in confusion, she clarifies. "Who do I remind you of?"

"Oh, right," Ali says, immediately feeling a little emotional. "My brother, Kyle." They take a few more silent steps as Ali processes her thoughts and Ashlyn waits patiently. "He, um. . . he was on the street for a while, too -- I don't even know where, to be honest -- but he'd had some trouble with alcohol and drugs -- not that I think you have had trouble with that, I just --"

"It's okay, Ali," Ashlyn assures her. "For the record, no I haven't, but go on."

"Anyway, I just. . . I guess I see the same kind of spirit in you that he always had. I know that probably sounds weird, but it's true. Despite being in such a shitty situation, you both just seem to have a positive vibe."

"Oh, so the act is working?" Ashlyn asks with a smile, which Ali returns.

"Yeah, it is," the businesswoman agrees as the two approach the office building, stopping outside. Ali knows she needs to get it out now before she loses her nerve. "You really remind me of him, which is why I want to make you an offer. An offer I wish someone had made him sooner."

"An offer? Wait, have I been sitting outside of a record label playing my shitty covers without realizing it?" Ashlyn half-jokes.

"Not quite," Ali says with a grin. "It's actually an advertising firm, and. . . this advertising expert could use a new assistant. What do you think?" she asks, looking up expectantly into hazel eyes.

"Wait, so. . . you're offering me a job? As your assistant?" the blonde asks, finally taking the conversation seriously.

"Yes, I am."

"How do you even know if I'm qualified?"

Ali smirks. "I've been informed that if you can read, you're qualified."

Ashlyn can certainly read. Hell, words were her life before her life turned upside down. But she still doesn't know if this is an offer she wants to accept. She absolutely abhors office work and isn't sure she'd fit in well in that type of environment. Plus, the voice in the back of her mind is still telling her to keep Ali at arm's length. So she does what she usually does and tries to diffuse the situation with a joke.

"I dunno, I mean . . . I've got so many other prospects . . ." she says with a grin.

Ali plays along. "Oh do you?"

"Yeah, I mean I am this close--" she holds her hand up to Ali with her thumb and index finger a fraction of an inch apart "to landing a job as one of those creepy Statues of Liberty in Times Square. This close."

The brunette just shakes her head. "Well, as lucrative as I'm sure that is, I bet I can do better for you," she says, checking the time and seeing she's about to be late for her next meeting. "How about this, if you're interested, just be here Monday morning and we can talk more about it, all right?"

"I'll think about it," Ashlyn answers noncommittally as she follows Ali inside to retrieve her guitar.

"Great!" Ali says, finally leaving the blonde's side to get into the elevator. "See you then, maybe."

Ashlyn just nods with a small smile as the executive boards the elevator, then turns to go back outside, muttering to herself, "Maybe. . ."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting somewhere, I promise. Let me know what you think!


	7. Your Guardian Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 1 a.m. and instead of sleeping I had to write this chapter. Thanks for being patient with me. Been battling the writer's block (and lacking motivation due to the current state of the country), but your comments and encouragement have helped tremendously.

It rains the entire weekend after Ali offers Ashlyn a job as her assistant, and with the downpour any remaining doubt in the blonde's mind as to whether or not to take her up on it is washed away. Despite the fact that she's resistant to becoming attached - emotionally or otherwise - to anyone, let alone a high-class woman like Ali, Ashlyn knows she really does need this. And she knows another opportunity may not come along for a long while, if ever.

So she takes a pocketful of the cash she'd accumulated via her street performances to a thrift store and buys a work-appropriate outfit (or at least what she thinks would be appropriate for working in Ali's office), and by Monday morning she looks and feels like a whole new person.

Unfortunately, her appearance hasn't actually changed _that_ much, so when Ali and Amanda arrive at the office building that morning and see the blonde already there, the latter has an immediate reaction.

"What the hell is she doing here?" she asks, turning to Ali.

"You could ask me, you know. I'm right here," Ashlyn interrupts, but the dirty blonde executive just ignores her.

"I can't even be gone for two days? I thought you said you were taking care of this?"

"I am taking care of it," Ali replies sternly before shooting Ashlyn a sly smile. "She's here for a job interview."

Amanda's jaw drops and she turns back to the homeless woman, her face clearly expressing both disgust and disbelief. Ashlyn just returns her look with the huge, close-mouthed smile of a child whose more lenient parent just let them off the hook. She'd been motivating herself all weekend with the thought that having a job was always the number one priority, but she has to admit that seeing Amanda so flustered by the turn of events is definitely a bonus.

"A job interview!? What job?"

"Josh's replacement."

Forgoing a real response, Amanda just sighs as if Ali has lost her mind and, as has become her common practice lately, stomps into the office building.

"Well, this is gonna be fun," Ashlyn quips.

"That's one word for it," Ali mumbles, leading the blonde inside where they follow Amanda onto the elevator. The ride is as awkward as can be expected, although Ashlyn finds herself trying not to laugh, and when they arrive at their floor, Amanda storms into her office and shuts the door. Ali leads Ashlyn into her office and offers her a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Is that gonna be a problem?" Ashlyn asks, jerking her thumb in the direction of Amanda's office.

Ali sighs. "Could be. But it'll be her problem. I want you here, and if she's got an issue with that, she just needs to get over it."

Ashlyn just nods and makes a conscious effort to sit up straight in the chair and not fidget, as past experience has shown she has a tendency to do in professional settings. Ali watches the blonde shift nervously in front of her and takes a moment to appreciate the effort she’d put into looking nice for the occasion. She’s traded her usual all black outfit of a large jacket over a hoodie and athletic sweatpants for a charcoal gray button up shirt that may be a bit too small and a pair of black slacks that may be a bit too large, along with a somewhat ridiculous tie that definitely belonged to a dorky ‘90s dad in its past life. Somehow the blonde pulls it all off, and although people in the office like Amanda might not appreciate the effort, Ali feels an inexplicable wave of pride wash over her as she eyes her new employee.

“You know, I have to be honest,” Ali states, “I’m kind of surprised you showed up.”

“Yeah, so am I,” Ashlyn replies with a shy smile, which grows mischievously with her next words, “but it’s like you said, this is probably a better option than the Times Square gig.”

“Oh, that it is, I can assure you,” Ali tells her with a smile. “And I know I told Amanda earlier that you’re here for an interview, but you’ve already got the job, as far as I’m concerned. Just gotta fill out the paperwork.”

“Wow, okay. I mean, thank you. I really . . . don’t know how to thank you,” Ashlyn stutters, all at once overwhelmed and relaxed at the thought of not having to go through an interview.

“Then don’t worry about it,” the brunette says as she looks up to see Josh about to knock on her door frame. “Hey, Josh. Come on in.”

“Good morning, Boss,” he says as he breezes into the room and hands Ali the usual coffee and paperwork, not taking much notice of the stranger in the room.

“Good morning, and thank you. Josh, I want you to meet Ashlyn,” Ali tells him, gesturing to the blonde seated opposite her. “She gets to take your place when you leave me next week.”

Josh turns around to greet his replacement and immediately gasps when he realizes who she is. “Oh my gosh, you’re the one from outside! Oh, I’m a huge fan. You’ve got real talent with that guitar,” he gushes before leaning towards her and whispering conspiratorially. “Plus anyone who gets Amanda’s panties in a wad like that is a keeper in my book.”

Ali rolls her eyes and shakes her head as the two greet each other more formally. She then tells Josh he’ll be on training duty for most of the day after she and Ashlyn go over some paperwork, and he happily bounds out of the office with his usual flair.

“I hope you’re not expecting me to be that enthusiastic all the time,” Ashlyn says with a little chuckle at the man’s antics.

“I’ll be more than satisfied if I get half that much enthusiasm from you,” Ali replies.

The two spend the next couple of hours going over paperwork and talking about the job. Ashlyn does eventually let Ali in on her previous work experience as a sports writer for a small newspaper outside the city, and the executive is delighted to find out that her new hire is more than capable of handling her new job (despite Ashlyn’s fear of answering phones). After that, Ali passes her off to Josh, who makes a day of job training far more entertaining than Ashlyn ever imagined was possible. Between their serious work moments, the two easily banter about everything from the weather (raining again after a clear morning) to their favorite SNL skits (both have a passion for more cowbell). By the end of the day, Ashlyn has learned the majority of what she needs to know to do the job, but she’ll continue to shadow Josh for the next day or so before she starts to take over while he makes sure she’s doing everything right.

The assistant and future assistant report back to Ali at the end of the day, and the boss is overjoyed to find out that everything went incredibly well. She waves Josh out the door with a promise to see him tomorrow and offers Ashlyn the chair she’d occupied earlier that day. The blonde takes the seat and the two go over how the day went before Ali gets silent and begins to chew contemplatively on her lower lip.

Finding the small burst of confidence she was looking for, the brunette suddenly speaks up again. “Okay, feel free to tell me I’m, like, overstepping my boundaries here or I’m being, just, too much, but I have one more offer for you . . .” she starts, looking up at Ashlyn with cautious eyes.

“Uh . . . okay,” the blonde replies, wanting to provide a joke to lighten the mood but too worried by the hesitancy with which Ali is addressing her.

Ali sighs, attempting to build her confidence again. “I have a spare bedroom in my apartment,” she blurts out, looking up again to see Ashlyn simply blink in quiet surprise. “It’s warm and dry, and there’s a bed, and it’s a safe place to keep stuff, and there’s a bathroom right next to it with a shower and everything. And I always have more than enough food in the fridge, and I’m a decent cook, oh and there’s a TV and everything, and it’s quiet. I mean, I know you hated the shelter because of the noisy kids and stuff so I just, I mean . . .” she trails off as she finally catches herself rambling. Ali had been thinking all day about offering up her spare bedroom to the blonde, even though she knew it was a long shot. It wasn’t her responsibility to find Ashlyn a place to stay while she worked to get her own place, but Ali knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing her assistant was continuing to sleep outside or in some other temporary place that somehow managed to be worse than the street. So for the second time in less than a week of knowing the woman, Ali offers her a helping hand with little expectation that she’ll take it.

“Ali . . .” Ashlyn starts quietly, still trying to process the brunette’s rambling offer. She continues to be blown away by Ali’s kindness, considering the two have known each other for less than a week. As much as she thinks the best thing to do would be to turn down the offer and keep her distance, Ashlyn’s starting to think Ali must be some kind of angel sent to help her out, and to do so would be quite a slap in the face to whatever god had sent her.

Sensing the blonde’s conflicting thoughts, Ali starts to ease off a bit. “I mean, you don’t have to decide now or anything. I just thought, you know, with the rain and everything . . .” she gestures to the window getting pelted with angry rain drops.

Ashlyn’s eyes follow Ali’s hand to look out the window for a moment before turning back toward her boss, whose own brown eyes seem sad and disappointed with the prospect of having her offer turned down. In that moment, Ashlyn decides she never wants to see a sad look in her guardian angel’s eyes again.

“All right," she says quietly, and her angel's eyes light up with joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully some lingering questions will be answered with the next chapter. In the meantime, let me know what you think and/or if you have favorite parts/lines so far!


	8. If I Can Make It There. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I can only do this at 1 in the morning now. That really bodes well for my sleep schedule. Oh well! This ended up being quite a bit longer than any of the other chapters, but I don't think anyone has ever complained about something like that. Hope you enjoy!

Ali eventually overcomes her shock that Ashlyn took her up on the offer of a temporary stay in her apartment, and the two of them leave the office building together. They part ways temporarily as Ali goes to retrieve her car from the parking garage and Ashlyn makes her way to the shelter to pick up the items she'd been storing in her locker there. They meet up again when Ali stops in front of the shelter to pick her up, and Ashlyn can't help but fawn over Ali's beautiful BMW. Once she places all her belongings in the back seat and climbs into the passenger's side, she realizes it's by far the nicest car she's ever been inside. Ali watches with amusement as the blonde looks over all the fancy buttons and controls.

"This is the only button that really matters," she says, clicking one on the console between them. Nothing happens, and Ashlyn looks at her in confusion. "Give it a second," Ali says, pulling the car away from the curb and down the street. Sure enough, in about a minute Ashlyn can feel her seat warming up.

"Holy shit that's amazing," she gushes, barely managing to hold back a comment about how it feels like she'd just peed herself.

"Yeah, it really helps on days like this," Ali agrees, noting that the chilly rain has slowed down but hasn't completely gone away. The two are mostly silent for the rest of the drive, Ali trying to figure out a way to start a conversation and Ashlyn focused on fighting the instinct to jump out and make a run for it. She's still uneasy about the situation, but she tells herself to give it a chance, to give Ali a chance. The woman's earned it so far, after all. In her whole life, Ashlyn's only known one other person she thinks is on Ali's level in terms of kindness. After that person, her grandma, had passed away she thought for sure there was no one left on earth who could come close. But the brunette in the seat beside her has given Ashlyn a new hope on that front, and in less than a week at that.

When they finally make it through the rush hour traffic to the garage of Ali's apartment building, the brunette offers to help Ashlyn carry her stuff inside, and in response the blonde just gives her a look.

"I think I can handle it," she says, holding up her duffel bag and guitar case for Ali to see just how little she has.

"Right, well, this way then," Ali replies, leading Ashlyn to an elevator and trying to hide her embarrassment. The awkward silence from the drive returns as they ride the elevator up to Ali's apartment on the 10th floor.

As the brunette unlocks her door, Ashlyn has to tell herself to calm down and stop worrying about whether or not she's worthy of being there. _This is a good thing, a normal thing. You're just crashing at a friend's house until you get your shit together._ Despite the mental pep-talk, though, she's still fighting the urge to tell Ali maybe it wasn't a great idea and that she'll just go back to the shelter for a little while. But then the brunette is opening the door and ushering her inside and smiling and being so welcoming and warm and all those thoughts suddenly don't matter anymore.

Ali gives her guest a quick tour of the apartment, which is modern and clean but modest and small enough to be cozy. The tour ends at the spare bedroom where Ashlyn will be sleeping, and after Ali tells her where to find everything, she leaves to begin making them dinner. The blonde puts her things on the floor beside the door, which she then closes and leans against with a heavy sigh. She stares at the bed in front of her, adorned with what look to be unbelievably comfortable sheets and blankets and a multitude of fluffy pillows. She feels ridiculous when she realizes there are tears threatening to spring from her eyes. Hell, it hasn't been that long since she'd had a bed like this of her own. She'd only been on the street for a little over a month, so it wasn't like she'd forgotten what it felt like to fall asleep on a bed in a room by herself. Still, the knowledge that she'd get to sleep here, where it's comfortable and warm and, above all else, safe, was overwhelming in that moment. When she finally manages to fight away the tears, she decides to unpack her duffel bag and change out of her work clothes, hanging them in the otherwise empty closet and putting on her usual outfit, minus the hoodie and jacket she'd worn for the last month.

Ali's nearly finished making dinner and enjoying a jazz playlist on Spotify when Ashlyn finally emerges from the spare room. The blonde enters the kitchen noiselessly and takes a seat on a barstool by the island, across from which Ali has her back turned to lean over the stove. When the brunette turns around to set her pot of pasta sauce on the island, she nearly drops it instead, startled by Ashlyn's general presence and more so by the sight of a previously unseen sleeve of tattoos on her arm, which extends out from under her white T-shirt.

"Shit!" Ali exclaims, managing to place the pot on the counter before making a huge mess. "And by that I mean, hi, you scared me."

"Sorry about that," Ashlyn laughs. "Do you need any help?"

"Nope, I think I've got it covered. Just a couple more minutes on the pasta. Did you get all settled in?"

The blonde chuckles. "I guess so. Really doesn't take too long when you only have one bag of stuff."

"I guess that's true," Ali replies. A couple minutes later the two are seated across from each other at the dining table eating dinner and the brunette can no longer contain her curiosity. "So those are pretty impressive," she says, gesturing to Ashlyn's tattoos.

"Oh. Thanks. Yeah, I guess you wouldn't have seen them before now," the blonde says, realizing she's only ever been around Ali with long sleeves on.

"That must have taken a lot of hours," Ali says, referring to the full sleeve.

"More like years," Ashlyn replies. "Started in college and added bits here and there over the years to make it whole. I love it but. . . almost seems like a waste of money now," she admits with a shake of her head. It's not the first time she's wished she hadn't blown hundreds of dollars getting all that ink injected into her skin, even though she knows in the long run that money wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway.

Ali wants to tell her it wasn’t a waste of money to have something so beautiful be a part of her. She wants to ask her the meaning behind each of the components of it. But she isn’t sure how appropriate it would be to do either of those things, so she’s somewhat relieved when the ringing of her phone interrupts their quiet meal. She picks up the device and, seeing it’s Derrick on the other end, excuses herself to the living room. Ashlyn eats alone in silence for a few minutes before Ali returns, apologizing for disrupting the meal, which she says she wouldn’t have normally done, but since Derrick is out of town on business for the next week she won’t get much chance to talk to him.

The two of them make light conversation and enjoy their meal after that, with Ali doing most of the talking. By the time they’re finished eating and tag-teaming the dishes (Ashlyn insisted she at least get to help), the brunette has a very strong sense that her houseguest is still more than a little uncomfortable.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” she asks, reaching into the fridge for a couple of beers as Ashlyn dries the last of the dishes.

“Of course,” the blonde answers, prepared to do whatever chore Ali wants to give her.

But Ali just smiles and pushes a newly opened beer into her hand. “Chill out.”

Ashlyn’s confusion is evident on her face as she weakly accepts the cold beverage, “What?”

“Just try to relax, all right? I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head. I can see all over your face that you’re not sure if you should be here or not, so just do me a favor and relax, okay? I promise you you’re safe here, and I promise I’m not asking anything from you other than this,” Ali states, looking up into hazel eyes and trying to relay a sense of comfort.

Ashlyn has never been good at relaxing on command, but as she looks into Ali’s warm brown eyes, she tries her best, taking a deep breath and attempting to let the stress leave as she exhales. “Thank you,” she says, and Ali just clinks their beers together with a sweet smile.

“Come on,” she says, beckoning Ashlyn to follow her, “I forgot one part of the tour.” Ali leads her through the living room and opens a glass door leading out to a balcony. The rain had finally stopped but the late September night is still cool, and yet neither of them are bothered by the chill as Ali offers Ashlyn a chair and takes a seat in the other. As the blonde sits, she takes in the view from the balcony 10 stories off the ground. It’s not the most impressive look at the New York skyline, as the building is surrounded by other, taller ones that obstruct the view. But Ashlyn has a clear view of the Chrysler Building, her favorite in the city, and it makes her smile.

“What’s that for?” Ali asks, noticing the change in the blonde’s demeanor.

“Just really like the view,” Ashlyn replies, pointing the top of her beer bottle toward the beautifully-lit building. “The Chrysler’s my favorite.”

“Oh, I totally agree. That damn Empire State Building gets way too much credit,” Ali chuckles.

“Damn right,” Ashlyn laughs in agreement, feeling for the first time in a long time that she still loves this city that had become her home. She takes a long drink from her beer and sighs deeply again. “You know, I’ve been in love with this city ever since I was thirteen years old.”

Ali turns in her seat to face the blonde, pulling her knees up into her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “Oh yeah?” she asks nonchalantly, hoping her new friend will finally begin to open up to her.

Ashlyn smiles a little and looks off into the distance. “Yeah. Ever since I started watching Law & Order with my grandma, probably several years before I should have been watching it. But we’d watch it together and talk about what it must be like to live here, aside from all the murder, of course,” she chuckles. “We lived in this tiny little beach town, so it was almost like we were fantasizing about a completely different planet, you know? But I always promised her I’d take her one day, so when NYU offered me a scholarship it was kind of a dream come true for both of us.”

Ali smiles at the blonde’s story, at the way her face has lit up with the thoughts of her grandmother, whom Ali is hearing about for the first time. “Was it everything she hoped it would be?”

Ashlyn lets out a bark of laughter. “God, you should have seen her. Like a child at Disney World,” she says, shaking her head. “I guess I was the same way, though. And we both loved it so much we had to stay. I got the job at the paper right after I graduated, so I got a place here and she moved in not long after that. No reason to stay in Florida anymore if I was here. The rest of my family. . .well, God only knows where they even are now, so. . . it’s not like we were leavin’ anybody behind.”

With that thought, the mood seems to shift, and Ali fears the blonde will go silent again. But Ashlyn leans forward to put her elbows on her knees and drop her head toward the floor. “God dammit I fucking miss her,” she says in a voice barely above a whisper. She can’t believe she’s saying that, can’t believe she’s opening up and willingly bearing this part of her soul to Ali. Maybe it’s the alcohol, or maybe it’s the city lights, or maybe it’s a combination. But when she feels Ali’s soft hand on her shoulder, she thinks it might not be so bad just to let it all out.

“What happened?” the brunette asks hesitantly.

Ashlyn sets her beer down and rubs her face with both of her hands. “Cancer,” she says. “Again.”

“Oh God, Ash. I’m so sorry,” Ali says, rubbing the blonde’s back soothingly.

“She had it beat once, when I was in high school,” Ashlyn says, for the moment choosing to ignore the nickname that had slipped from Ali’s mouth, “but it came back about a year and a half ago, and it came back fucking hard. There wasn’t much we could do, but we tried. I tried. . .” she trails off as the tears threaten to overtake her. “I quit the paper so I could take care of her, so I could just be with her. I mean, I was all she had. Hell, she was all I had. . .”

“I’m so sorry,” Ali says again. “I can’t even imagine . . .”

Ashlyn sniffles and wipes at her teary eyes with the back of her hand. “When she passed, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I thought I could never feel anything worse than that,” she chuckles dryly. “Boy, was I wrong. Hospital bills, funeral expenses, not to mention my student loans, plus rent in this goddamn city along with everything else. . . I didn’t stand a chance. Everything I had saved up was gone just like that. I couldn’t get my old job back, I couldn’t get a new job, I had no other family to turn to. I didn’t even have any friends I could ask for help because pretty much all the friends I’d had in college had left the city, and the ones still here weren’t in much better shape,” she stops and shakes her head. “You know how they say if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?”

“Yeah.”

Ashlyn finally turns toward Ali and looks at her with the most broken eyes Ali’s ever seen. “What are you supposed to do when you can’t make it here?”

Ali has no idea what to say. She’d been curious about the blonde’s backstory ever since they’d met that first day on the sidewalk, but she realizes now she might not have been fully ready to know it. She doesn’t know how Ashlyn feels in the slightest, doesn’t know what it’s like to go through any of that, doesn’t know what to say to help heal the ache in those pleading hazel eyes. So she reaches out and pulls the woman in for a hug. The blonde is caught off guard and stays rigid for a moment before melting into Ali’s arms, into the first meaningful human contact she’s had since her grandma had passed away. Ali just holds her for a minute or two, until Ashlyn has finished sobbing and Ali finally comes up with an answer she thinks will lift her spirits.

“Well, apparently you’re supposed to sit around outside an office building until you get on some mean girl’s nerves and another really awesome girl gives you a job,” she says with a lighthearted nudge.

Ashlyn chuckles and pulls away to sit up again. “A really awesome girl, huh?”

“Yep. The awesomest,” Ali nods.

“Well, if you meet one, give her my name because I don’t know if this whole assistant thing is gonna work out,” Ashlyn replies with a wry smile.

Ali rolls her eyes playfully but smiles at the woman’s change in demeanor. “Whatever you say, Harris,” she says, and the two of them continue to share stories long into the New York night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, that's the original Law & Order.


	9. Just Wanna Have Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for being patient and thanks for the concern for my lack of sleep! This one got done at midnight rather than 1 a.m., so....progress? I'll take it. Enjoy!

For the next four days, Ashlyn is hesitant to open her eyes when she wakes up. She’s positive that she’s been dreaming, and if she opens her eyes and really wakes up she’ll see that she’s back on the street or in the shelter or the park. If she never opens her eyes, maybe she can keep on dreaming this glorious dream. But she needn’t worry, for as soon as she thinks these thoughts the smell of freshly brewed coffee hits her nose, and she’s reassured that the dream is in fact a reality. She’s really waking up in a comfortable bed, in a warm apartment, in a safe neighborhood, and right down the hall from one of the most amazing people she’s ever met.

After Ashlyn had opened up to Ali about her situation, she found it easier to relax around her, and over the course of the week, the two had really begun to get to know each other. They start each morning chatting quietly over cereal and coffee (when Ashlyn asked why Josh still brings her coffee at work when she makes it every morning herself, the brunette says “I never asked him to do that, he’s just seen too many movies” and claims there’s no such thing as too much coffee). Then they get dressed and ready separately before making the drive to work together, during which they pick up where they left off chatting at breakfast.

Toward the end of the blonde’s second day of work, Tuesday, Ali sends her and Josh out with her credit card to buy Ashlyn some more clothes. Josh is beside himself with joy over getting to go on a shopping spree, while Ashlyn is only interested in making sure she adds up just how much she spends so she can pay Ali back some day. On Wednesday, she off-handedly mentions that she’d stored some of her personal belongings and things she couldn’t sell in a storage container on the outskirts of the city. So Ali drives her over at the end of the day, and after several trips from the parking garage to the 10th floor, they celebrate Ashlyn officially being moved in. Then on Thursday, Josh has long since finished teaching her everything she needs to know for the job and decides there’s no better way to pass the time on a slow day than to see how many pranks they can pull over on Amanda. Ashlyn at first is unwilling to participate beyond the act of Googling a list of the best pranks from The Office. But after she overhears the bitchy blonde trying to get her coworkers to place bets on how long it will be before Ashlyn gets fired, she happily joins Josh in sneaking into her office to switch out her wireless mouse with one encased in Jello (after setting up an extension to have her computer autocorrect her name to “diapers,” of course).

By Friday, it’s as if Ali, Ash, and Josh have been best friends for decades, having so much fun getting to know each other that Ashlyn almost forgets this is her job. All good things must come to an end, though, and the last day of the work week is clouded by the fact that it’s Josh’s last day. When quitting time rolls around, Ali knows she can’t just wave him out the door and be done with it, so she tells him the three of them are going out that night, wherever he wants.

“Wherever I want?!” Josh gasps in excitement, clapping his hands together while Ashlyn shakes her head at his excitement.

“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?” the brunette replies, her face growing concerned as Josh’s smile grows from excited to mischievous and he begins wringing his hands like an evil witch in a Disney movie, his eyebrows raising suggestively. “Oh, no. Except that. Not that, Josh,” Ali pleads.

“Too late, you already said! See you there in a couple of hours!” he shouts as he runs out, slowing only to plant a kiss on Amanda’s cheek as he passes her on the way to the elevator, leaving her standing in horror.

Ali just sighs in defeat while Ashlyn tries not to laugh out loud at the man’s exit. “So, what am I missing here? What, does he want to go to some super gay club or something?”

“Ugh, no. That I wouldn’t mind,” Ali says, ignoring the snort with which Ashlyn responds. “He’s excited because I accidentally agreed to go to karaoke night with him.”

Ashlyn just stares at Ali for a second, trying to determine if she’s serious. When the brunette shows no signs that she’s joking, Ashlyn bursts with laughter.

Ali groans and rolls her eyes. “Great. I should have known you’d be happy about it too,” she mumbles as she and Ashlyn leave the office, the blonde continuing to laugh all the way to the car.

A trip home to change out of work clothes and a cab ride later, the women meet up with Josh again at the bar he’d only managed to get his boss to on one or two other occasions. The place holds a karaoke night on Fridays, and there’s nothing Josh loves more than getting up on the stage and making a fool of himself just for the drama of it. It’s still early when they get there and no one wants to be the first to perform, so the three of them sit down for dinner and an opening round of drinks while they wait for the first brave soul to go. Josh insists on talking about their “game plan” and “strategy” for song selection, despite the fact that there’s no competition, until Ashlyn teases him that he sounds like a jock, which makes him shudder but has the desired effect of getting him to shut up about it. In the end, he agrees to let everyone wing it and choose their own songs, with the exception that Ashlyn does a duet with him.

Before long, the two of them are buzzed enough to take the stage and they wow the crowd with a gender-bended rendition of Empire State of Mind, with Ashlyn doing Jay-Z’s rap part and Josh playing the role of Alicia Keys. By the end of the song, the whole bar is cheering and Ali gives them a standing ovation.

“Holy shit, you two! Where did that come from?” she demands as they return to their table. “I already knew you could sing, but you can rap too?!”

Ashlyn just shrugs and gives her a wink as Josh begins to ramble about the performance. A few drinks later, Josh has done two more solo songs and Ashlyn has fulfilled her promise of doing one herself, declaring to the bar that it’s “a special song" for "the awesomest girl” she knows before singing the entirety of Wonderwall in Ali’s direction with an ever-present smirk. When she returns to her seat, Ali makes a point to ignore her for the next three songs, which only makes the blonde laugh.

When the night is beginning to wind down and Ali still hasn’t gotten up to perform, Josh demands she take another drink and get her butt up on the stage. She finally gives in, stumbling slightly on her way up, at which point Ashlyn asks if it’s really a good idea.

“Trust me, she’s fine. She just will not do this unless she’s wasted,” Josh replies as Ali begins her performance of Man, I Feel Like a Woman. He hollers encouragement as she gets going before peeking over at the blonde beside him, whose face is lit up as if she’s watching her favorite artist perform her favorite song. He watches Ashlyn’s smile widen and her eyes fill with wonder as she takes in Ali’s performance, which, if they’re being honest, is far from awe-inspiring. But that would be impossible to tell by the look on Ashlyn’s face. “Wow, you really like her,” he states.

The blonde barely hears him, keeping her eyes on Ali as she asks, “What?”

“I said you really like her!” he shouts, waving his hand in front of her face.

Ashlyn finally pulls her eyes away. “Well. . . yeah? She’s great, why wouldn’t I like her?” she asks nervously, taking a big gulp of her drink.

“No, no. I mean you _really_ like her. You’ve practically got heart eyes over there.”

“What? No I don’t!”

“Yes you do! Don’t argue with me, this is my night,” he says, holding up his hand to shush her as she starts to retort. “Just admit it.”

“I don’t, Josh,” she says unconvincingly. “I mean, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Ashlyn rolls her eyes. “Um, hello? She’s straight.”

Josh scoffs. “Bitch, please. That girl may have a boyfriend now, but that does not make her straight.”

The blonde stares at him in shock for a few seconds and is about to ask for elaboration when their attention is pulled back to the stage as Ali has finished her song and is now calling the two of them up to help her with an encore.

“You heard the lady,” Josh says, throwing back the last of his drink before dragging the still-reeling Ashlyn along with him to join Ali in closing out their night with an inspired performance of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

After they close out their tab and the women say good night to Josh and they all promise to keep in touch despite him “leaving,” Ashlyn guides a drunken Ali into a cab, where the brunette promptly collapses onto her shoulder to rest. Ashlyn just shakes her head and smiles at Ali’s comfort with her. Over the course of the week, the two had already seen so many different sides of each other, and with each side of Ali, Ashlyn had only discovered more to like. She had always known the woman was kind, but now she had seen the sides that were funny, nurturing, stubborn, intelligent, fierce, and, currently, downright adorable. She thought back to what Josh had said in the bar, about Ali not being straight. She wondered if he was just being drunk and dramatic or if he actually knew what he was talking about. She had never given it a thought when it came to Ali, not since the time she had seen Derrick pick her up for a date. But then again, Ali had barely talked about him all week, so maybe. . .

_No_ , Ashlyn thinks to herself. _Don’t even bother. You have too many other things to worry about right now, anyway. No sense getting carried away thinking about impossible scenarios with someone who’s obviously taken. No matter how adorable she is snoring on your shoulder._

They arrive at Ali’s apartment building and Ashlyn manages to get her to wake up enough to walk inside, but when they reach the elevator, the brunette clings to Ashlyn’s right arm and leans on her for support.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now, Al,” the blonde says, shaking her arm to get Ali to stand up on her own.

“But you’re so soft and comfy,” Ali slurs, and Ashlyn has to repeat her previous mantra to herself for the entirety of the elevator ride.

They finally make it into the apartment (after a couple minutes of Ashlyn practically begging Ali to stay awake long enough to find her key), and the blonde leads the drunk woman to her bed before going to retrieve a glass of water and some aspirin for the morning to come. By the time Ashlyn gets back to Ali’s bedroom, she’s already somehow changed into shorts and a tank top and slipped into bed. The blonde places the water and pills on the nightstand and turns to leave, thinking Ali’s already passed out. But she stops at the door and turns around when she hears her name being called.

“Yeah, Al?”

Ali turns over to look at her. “I’m really glad we’re friends now.”

Ashlyn smiles at her heartfelt comment. “So am I, Al. Sleep good, okay?”

“Okay. G’night,” Ali slurs as she turns back over and falls right to sleep.

“Good night,” Ashlyn whispers, turning to go to her own room, where she lies awake for the next three hours replaying all the events of the last two weeks.


	10. Hey There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's not dead after all! (Close call after that Shiba Leaves cup, but alas.) Sorry it's been so long. Real life has been crazy and my free time and my creative-feeling time have not overlapped in a while. But I'm a little more free for the next few weeks, so hopefully we can get this thing rolling again. Special shoutout to anyone who's given me a nudge on this for the past week or so. Y'all brought me back, so kudos to you. Anyway, enjoy!

The morning after karaoke night with Josh, Ashlyn wakes up to a persistent pounding in her head. She groans and attempts to bury her face into the pillow in an effort to make the pounding go away, but to no avail. _Jesus, I didn't drink that much. What is going on here?_ she thinks, finally rolling over to reach for the water she'd set out. But then she realizes the pounding isn't in her head at all, it's coming from the front door of Ali's apartment. She waits silently for a moment, listening for the sounds of Ali leaving her room to answer the door, but no such sounds occur. Obviously the brunette is still sound asleep after their rowdy night, so Ashlyn just rolls over and covers her ears with a pillow in hopes the person at the door will get the hint and move on.

Five minutes later, the pounding has not stopped and Ali has still not gotten up, so the blonde gets up with a grumble, ready to tell whoever’s at the door that they can go to hell for being such an ass so early on a Saturday morning. She doesn’t get the chance, however, for as soon as she swings the door open, a dark-haired man brushes past her and into the apartment.

“Good grief, what took you so long? I’ve been knocking forever,” the man says in an annoyed tone before he finally turns around and is shocked to find a tattooed blonde staring back at him rather than the apartment’s actual occupant. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Ashlyn states, although she has a pretty good idea of who this is, based on photos she’s seen around Ali’s apartment and a brief glimpse of him the previous week.

The prior event seems to register in the man’s mind as well. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you the homeless girl that was outside Ali’s office last week?”

Ashlyn crosses her arms and glares at him. “The name’s Ashlyn.”

“Sure. Where’s Ali?”

Right on cue, the brunette emerges from the hallway, yawning and completely oblivious to the standoff happening in her living room. She’s hoping some coffee and breakfast will take the edge off her hangover, but as soon as she fully opens her eyes, the effects of the previous night are long forgotten.

“Derrick? What are you doing here?”

“What, I can’t come over and surprise my girlfriend?” he asks, shooting a look at Ashlyn with the last word of his question, in response to which she rolls her eyes.

“You weren’t supposed to be back until Monday,” Ali reminds him.

“Well, I’m back early, which you might have known if you’d just answer your phone,” he says before gesturing in Ashlyn’s direction and adding in a rather accusatory voice, “What the hell is going on here?”

“This is Ashlyn.”

“So I’ve heard,” he says with another glare in the blonde’s direction. “What is she doing here?”

Ali sighs, already exhausted with the way this day is going. “She’s my new assistant. She’s staying here until she can get her own place.”

“Staying here,” Derrick repeats, placing his hands on his hips and eying his girlfriend somewhat incredulously. “And you don’t think you should have talked to me about that decision?”

“Excuse me?” Now Ali is the incredulous one. “Since when am I required to talk to you about what’s going on in _my_ apartment? What, are you my landlord now?”

As the exchange regarding her presence goes on, Ashlyn becomes more and more uncomfortable and the couple is carrying on as if she’s not there, so the blonde takes the opportunity to slip out of the living room and back to the bedroom.  Ali registers her silent exit but is too upset by her boyfriend’s behavior to do anything about it.

“I’m not your landlord, but I am your boyfriend and I have a right to be concerned about what kind of people you’re letting into your home, Ali.”

“And just what ‘kind of people’ do you think she is, Derrick?” Ali asks, practically yelling now.

“For god’s sake, Ali, don’t make me say it.”

“Oh, you’re gonna have to say it,” Ali counters. “Because I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re talking about.”

“She’s _homeless_ , Ali!” Derrick exclaims, as if he’s just made an excellent point.

“So?” Ali can’t believe they are having an argument about this and truly doesn’t understand what her boyfriend is implying.

“So, she’s obviously using you! I don’t trust her!”

It goes on that way for a while, and Ashlyn hears the whole thing from the bedroom - Derrick claiming poor and homeless people can’t be trusted, that someone of Ali’s class and stature has nothing to gain by offering assistance, and Ali becoming more and more upset that he thinks that way . Ashlyn realizes that her initial hesitations over accepting Ali’s kindness sound somewhat similar to the argument Derrick is making, but while they seemed at least somewhat reasonable in her head, it sounds completely ridiculous coming from him. She has no ill will towards Ali, no intention of taking advantage of her or her money in any way, and she’s beyond grateful that Ali apparently realizes this and is sticking up for her so fervently.

Still, she feels like she’s intruding on Ali’s life, coming between her and her boyfriend and causing her unnecessary stress. So once the argument dies down to where she can no longer hear them and Derrick eventually makes an exit, Ashlyn’s first instinct is to go back into the living room and quietly say, “I’m sorry. I can leave. . .”

Ali, who had collapsed onto the couch and buried her head in her hands, trying not to cry, can’t decide whether she’s more startled by the fact that Ashlyn is standing in front of her or that she just offered to leave. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Ali says, waving her off.

“I don’t have to stay here, Ali. I don’t have to stay if it’s just going to make things awkward,” Ashlyn points out.

“I’d rather it be awkward than you be on the street again,” Ali says, pulling Ashlyn down by the wrist to sit next to her on the couch.

The blonde scoffs as she takes a seat. “Seems like you’re the only one,” she says, referring to how she’s so far been treated by Amanda and now Derrick.

Ali frowns apologetically. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what it is with them, why they’re being so shitty. I mean, they’ve both always had more money than anyone would ever need, but that’s no excuse,” she says with a shake of her head. “Don’t let them get to you. Just because they don’t know how to be decent doesn’t mean you have to believe you’re not deserving of their respect or anyone else’s.”

Ali looks over at Ashlyn, whose head is hung in shame because she doesn’t fully believe the brunette’s words.

“Hey,” she says, reaching out her hand to lift the blonde's chin so she’ll look at her. “Promise me you won’t take their shit. That you won’t let them get to you.”

Ashlyn just stares at Ali for a moment, trying not to get caught up in the feeling of her soft fingers on her chin, in the warmth of her kind, gorgeous eyes. It doesn’t work. She does get caught up, and in that moment, she thinks she’d promise Ali anything.

“I promise,” she says, knowing that of all the promises she could make to Ali, this is actually a good one to keep.

The brunette finally drops her hand and smiles widely. “Good.”

“I am sorry about making you get into an argument with your boyfriend, though,” Ashlyn offers.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault,” Ali says.

“Well, I know,” Ashlyn shrugs before offering a smile. “But how about I make it up to you anyway?”

“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Ali asks, grinning. Ashlyn holds up one finger as if to say “just a second” before darting off down the hall. She comes back a moment later with her guitar over her shoulder and a goofy grin on her face. Ali laughs. “Oh boy, I haven’t gotten to hear you play for over a week now!”

“I know, right? Way overdue,” the blonde agrees before sitting back down and picking the guitar strings to the tune of Hey There Delilah, changing the words instead to Hey Alexandra and making up the rest of the lyrics as she goes, with a little help from Alexandra herself.


	11. All I Want for Christmas Is…You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the warm welcome back! Here's another before I take the weekend off for my mini-vacation. This turned out longer than I expected but hopefully for the good. We're jumping ahead in the timeline and things are starting to unravel. Let me know what you think!

Over the next few months, Ashlyn finds she has a lot to be thankful for. She’s thankful, first and foremost, that she wound up on the sidewalk outside Ali’s office that first day, because without that she wouldn’t have all the other things she’s thankful for now. She’s thankful she has warm place to live during the cold winter in her favorite city. She’s thankful she doesn’t have to worry about whether or not she’ll be able to eat the next day. She’s thankful she has a friend as amazing and supportive as Ali at such a difficult time in her life. And she’s definitely thankful that Ali and her boyfriend don’t live together.

After their first meeting, Ashlyn and Derrick don’t interact very often. He never comes to the apartment - except for a few instances when he picks Ali up - and when she wants to be with him, Ali goes to his place. But on the few occasions he does come by, he makes little to no effort to hide his disdain for Ashlyn’s presence. She wants to tell him the feeling is mutual, but she figures ignoring him will cause the least tension among the three of them.

That’s not to say they avoid tension altogether, though. Despite Ali’s best efforts to make him see what she sees in Ashlyn, Derrick refuses to change his position on her “charity work,” as he calls it. So he’s especially upset when his girlfriend reschedules their standing date in favor of taking Ashlyn out for her birthday about a month after she moves in. And he’s downright insufferable when she declines the invitation to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving because she doesn’t want Ashlyn to have to spend the holiday alone.

By the time the week of Christmas rolls around, the tension is at an all time high. Ali’s grown tired of dealing with Derrick’s childishness over the whole situation, so she has started regularly coming up with excuses to avoid spending time with him. Instead, she and Ashlyn spend more and more time together. Outside of work, they’re practically inseparable – Ali takes Ashlyn to Broadway shows, Ashlyn drags Ali back out for another karaoke night with Josh, and when the two of them don’t feel like being around anyone but each other, they spend their evenings binging on Netflix and movies at Ali’s place. And when they can stand the cold New York weather, they hang out on the balcony of the apartment, sharing their deepest secrets and thoughts over the occasional glass of whiskey.

Since the day they met, Ali had a soft spot for the blonde, but as the months go on, she realizes just how much Ashlyn means to her. She’s an incredible assistant – not as hyper as Josh but smart as could be and helpful in so many ways. And she’s even better outside of work. Once Ashlyn gets over her initial uneasiness over accepting Ali’s generosity, she falls right into the role of Ali’s best friend before the brunette even realizes what has happened. She always knows how to cheer Ali up, how to keep her from stressing out, how to brighten every day. Ashlyn is the most dependable person Ali’s ever known, and her gratefulness for the blonde is only rivaled by that which she receives from her.

Ali wants nothing more than to show Ashlyn just how grateful she is with a big Christmas gift, but the blonde made her promise not to go overboard, seeing as she’s already done so much Ashlyn knows she’ll never be able to repay her for (not that Ali would make her). So when the blonde opens her gift from Ali on Christmas morning – in the presence of not only Derrick but Ali’s mom and brother as well – she finds only a box set of Law & Order DVDs. It’s by far the least expensive and fancy gift Ali is giving that day, but the look on Ashlyn’s face when she opens it lets her know that it’s definitely the most meaningful one.

“Oh, no way,” the blonde gushes as Ali’s other guests try to see what was in the shiny red gift bag. “Ali, this is incredible. I love it. Thank you.”

After their balcony conversation the first night, Ashlyn had talked a few more times about how much the show had meant to her and her relationship with her grandma. But as far as Ali could tell she hadn’t gotten to watch it, so the set seemed like the perfect gift. When the blonde just continues to stare at the package with an awed look, she knows she nailed it. Ali’s heart swells and her smile grows wider and wider as she watches. On the other hand, Derrick, who apparently has no concept of sentimental value, just rolls his eyes at Ashlyn’s reaction to the gift. The move is missed by everyone but Kyle, who makes a mental note to tell his sister about it later.

After a few moments to appreciate her gift, Ashlyn gets up and retrieves a small box from under the Christmas tree and hands it to Ali.

“I told you you didn’t have to get me anything,” Ali says, hesitating to take the package, which fits in the palm of her hand.

“You didn’t think I actually listened when you said that, did you?” Ashlyn replies with a playful grin. “Just open it.”

Ali does, and inside she finds a flash drive and a folded piece of notebook paper, which tells her that the drive contains a handful of recordings of Ashlyn playing and singing some of their favorite songs. The guitar player had used the iPad Ali had given her for her birthday to record herself, and she thought the brunette would appreciate getting to hear her work, especially since Ashlyn’s performances were always good at providing her with a smile. Ali holds the flash drive tightly in her hand as she reads over the list of songs, her smile growing wider with each one.

“Aw, Ash. This is so thoughtful,” she says, causing the blonde to break into a smile to match hers. “Thank you so much.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

With that, Derrick makes a show of standing up and grabbing his own gift for Ali from under the tree. His, too, is a small box, and Ali opens it to find a brilliant pair of diamond earrings. They’re gorgeous, and she tells her boyfriend so, thanking him and giving him a quick kiss. But her reaction to his gift doesn’t match her enthusiasm for Ashlyn’s, and he barely contains his pout as everyone opens the rest of their presents.

After all the gifts are open and everyone settles down with a cup of coffee, Derrick suggests Ali try on her new earrings to see how they look.

“Maybe later, babe,” she says dismissively as she grabs the flash drive from Ashlyn. “Hey Ky, could you go get my laptop from my room? Mom, you’ve got to listen to these songs. Ash made me promise I wouldn’t make her perform for you guys, but she can’t stop me from using my own Christmas present.”

Ashlyn is about to protest Ali’s clever run around her promise, but at that moment Derrick launches himself up from his seat on the couch and says sternly, “Ali, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?”

He storms off without a reply from his girlfriend, who looks around at the stunned faces of her guests before following him. Ashlyn, Kyle, and Deb are left sitting awkwardly in the living room, trying to ignore the argument that goes on in the kitchen. But they hear all too clearly that Derrick is upset over the fact that his ridiculously expensive gift hadn’t been given half the appreciation of one that cost all of ten dollars to make. They hear perfectly well that he thinks Ali has been spending far too much time with her friend instead of her boyfriend. And they hear soon enough the unmistakable slamming of Ali’s front door when he leaves, after telling his girlfriend she needs to get her priorities straight.

Kyle jumps right up to rush to Ali’s side as soon as Derrick is gone, and he takes her to her room to calm down. Deb and Ashlyn sit in silence for another minute or so before Deb speaks up. “It’s not your fault, honey. You gave her a lovely gift and from what I’ve heard, you’ve been a wonderful friend to my daughter. Don’t pay him any mind.”

“I try not to,” Ashlyn says with a shake of her head before standing up and excusing herself to her own room. She had planned to leave soon anyway – she had plans to spend the day with Josh and leave Ali to spend time with her family and boyfriend – and she figures now is as good a time as any since Kyle has things under control. After she puts on clothes other than her Christmas pajamas and promises to see Deb the next day, she heads out the door.

Meanwhile, Kyle has managed to get his sister to stop crying over her boyfriend’s dramatic exit and is patiently waiting for her to tell him exactly what she’s thinking about the whole situation.

“I don’t understand, Kyle,” she finally says. “I just don’t get why he acts like this when it comes to her. I mean, after all this time, why can’t he see how great she is?”

Kyle sighs. “I think he does, Al. That’s the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he sees how good she is to you, how much you like her, and he feels threatened, Alex. He thinks Ashlyn’s taking you away from him, and today he tried to buy you back and it didn’t work.”

“You think he. . .he tried to buy me?” Ali repeats. “That’s crazy, Kyle. I don’t need him to buy stuff for me, I’m doing just fine.”

“Yeah, but think about it. He sees Ash in here making you laugh and smile and just hanging out with you – all stuff he used to be the only one to do – but what’s the one thing she can’t do?”

Ali finally realizes the point her brother is trying to make – that Ashlyn can do everything for her but buy her nice things – but she still can’t wrap her head around the fact that he’s right. Ali’s never cared about money or having fancy things like that a day in her life. Why would Derrick think that’s the way to her heart? And why would he feel the need to compete with Ashlyn in the first place? He is her boyfriend after all, and Ashlyn’s just a friend, right? _Right?_

Ali’s moment of self-reflection is interrupted by a soft knock on her door, after which her mom pokes her head in. “How we doing in here?” Deb asks, and Ali assures her that she’s fine. “Good. How about we do this Christmas in New York thing, then?”

With that, the three of them head out to explore the city, and Ali pretends that her last question to herself is the furthest thing from her mind.

***

Several hours after the sun has set on another Christmas day, Ashlyn returns to Ali’s place good and buzzed from a fun day with Josh. The two had exchanged simple gifts – he gave her a book of pranks to pull on your coworkers; she gave him a handmade gift certificate for three nights of karaoke, from her and Ali – and then they spent most of the day watching Christmas movies and drinking bourbon-spiked egg nog which eventually turned into straight up bourbon. Fortunately it did the trick of taking Ashlyn’s mind off the dramatic events of the morning, and by the time she gets back to Ali’s she’s feeling pretty good.

She enters the apartment to find Deb and Kyle gone, apparently retired back to their hotel, and Ali nowhere to be found. That is, until she checks the balcony and finds the brunette sitting there watching a light snow fall over the city. Ashlyn just hangs in the doorway and stares for a moment, silently taking in the scene she thinks is the most peaceful thing she’s ever witnessed. The moment is ruined, however, when she can’t contain a hiccup and Ali’s head jerks up in her direction.

“Well, hey,” she says with a hint of a slur. “How long have you been back?”

“Just a minute or so. How was your Christmas?” Ashlyn asks, still leaning against the door frame.

Ali sighs. “It was great, then it was not so great, then it was good. Now I think it’s finishing on a high note.”

“A high note, huh? Or maybe a drunk note?” the blonde suggests with a nod toward the whiskey bottle that accompanied her friend outside.

“Same thing,” Ali shrugs, grabbing the bottle and standing up with one last look out over the street below.

“Either way, I’m glad you’re all right,” Ashlyn says. “I’m sorry about this morn—“

“Stop,” Ali interrupts. “I’m tired of that.”

“Tired of what?”

“Of you apologizing when it should be him doing that,” she explains as she walks closer to where Ashlyn is holding up the doorway. “You’ve never done anything wrong.”

“Never?” Ashlyn asks, and Ali just shakes her head as she brushes past her and into the apartment. “What about the time I hung up on that client that was yelling at you?”

The brunette laughs and turns back around to face her with a smile. “Maybe not your best professional move, but I did appreciate it on a personal level,” she says. As she looks back at the grinning blonde in the doorway, her eye catches on a decoration just above her head. Ali remembers distinctly telling Kyle not to hang the mistletoe up in her apartment, but apparently he did not heed that advice, and so it hangs above Ashlyn’s head now. And Ali knows she’ll probably regret her next move the following day, but with the whiskey flowing through her and after all the craziness of the morning, she decides to be thankful for her brother’s stubbornness.

She takes two steps forward and looks right up into the blonde’s eyes with a bright smile. “What?” Ashlyn asks with a grin.

“Nothing. Just want to give you one more present,” Ali says, and then looks up again at the mistletoe, her gaze matched this time by Ashlyn’s.

“Oh” is all the blonde can say before Ali’s lips meet hers for no more than a second – more than enough to render her brain completely useless.

Ali pulls away and gives her one more smile before turning to head down the hallway, stopping briefly to turn around and say “Merry Christmas, Ash.” Then she goes to her room and leaves Ashlyn standing stunned but electrified and still leaning against the balcony doorway.


	12. Nothing Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I thought about splitting this up into two chapters, but you guys gave me so much love after the last one I couldn't even consider you making you wait more than you had to. Anywaaayyy...buckle up!

Kyle Krieger’s phone rings at 8:07 a.m. the morning after Christmas, arousing him from his beauty sleep in what he would have to say is the most comfortable hotel bed he’s ever experienced. He grabs the device and, without looking to see who’s calling, answers it with a grumbled “What?”

“Kyle…?”

The sound of his sister’s uncertain voice wakes Kyle up immediately. “Alex? What’s wrong?”

“Can you meet me somewhere for coffee?”

“Al, what is wrong?” he asks again, already out of bed and putting his shoes on.

“Just… meet me somewhere and I’ll tell you, okay?”

“I’m leaving right now. Text me where.”

Twenty minutes later, Kyle enters a coffee shop to find Ali already there with one coffee in her hand and his on the opposite side of the table. She sits staring out the window with a worried look on her face, and Kyle rushes over in full protective big brother mode.

“What happened?” he asks before she even looks up at him as he sits down.

Ali shakes her head at his directness, although she should have known he’d react this way based on her call. She decides not to string him along. “Promise you won’t judge?”

Kyle snorts. “You’re kidding, right?”

The younger Krieger sibling just sighs deeply, grips her coffee cup tighter and cringes as she quickly mumbles something incoherent to her brother.

“Come again, Miss Mumbles?”

Ali tries again, this time audibly, “I kissed Ashlyn.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Kyle exclaims, turning a few heads in the mostly empty coffee shop.

Ali jumps to reach across the table to cover his mouth with her hand, and when he’s calmed down she sits again and buries her face in her hands. Although she’d been confident in the moment the night before, by the time she got to bed her mind had started racing. Eventually she talked herself into the idea that her move on the blonde was just a result of the alcohol, and she hoped she would forget it by the morning. But alas, the first thing on Ali’s mind when she woke up this morning was the stunned look on her assistant’s face when Ali had pulled away from her ever so brief kiss. And at this point she’s not sure how she feels about it, although she’s leaning toward the “that was a huge mistake” side.

Kyle eventually coaxes the story out of her, and at the end she points her finger at him and says, “This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn’t put that damn mistletoe up like I told you—“

“Don’t pin this on me, Al. I think you would have done it anyway,” he counters.

Ali stammers around for a bit. “I…what? No I wouldn’t have. Why would you…”

“Alex, chill. There’s nothing wrong with it. It was just a peck. A little Christmas smooch,” Kyle says, playfully waving off his sister’s worries.

“’Nothing wrong with it’? Kyle, I have a boyfriend. I can’t just go around kissing people, Christmas or not.”

“You’re not. You kissed one person, once, and very briefly. It’s not something to freak out over.”

“Yeah, but I am freaking out, Kyle.”

“Then maybe you’re not freaking out for the reason you think you are.”

“What does that mean?”

Kyle pauses for a moment before he answers, trying to gauge how his sister might react to his recent observations. "Alex, what if you’re freaking out because you _wanted_ to kiss Ashlyn? What if you’re freaking out because you like her?”

Ali’s mouth falls open, her retort lost before she can fully form it. Sure, she likes Ashlyn. Why wouldn’t she? Ashlyn’s a great assistant, a perfect best friend. But that doesn’t mean Ali _likes_ her likes her. It doesn’t mean she wanted to kiss her. “That’s….that’s crazy, Kyle.”

He just looks at her with a raised eyebrow as he lifts his coffee to take a drink. “Is it, Al?”

Before Ali can answer him, Kyle’s phone rings, their mother’s name popping up on the screen. He had left to meet his sister without waking Deb to tell her where he was going, and now she is awake and insisting she get to spend her last day in New York with her kids. So Kyle lets his question hang in Ali’s mind, dragging her out of the coffee shop to meet their mother and forcing her – for the second day in a row – to focus on entertaining her family rather than ponder her feelings about her assistant.

***

When Ashlyn wakes up the day after Christmas, she has a hazy memory of being kissed by the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen, but she isn’t sure if she dreamed that event or if it really happened. But as soon as she enters Ali’s living room and sees the whiskey bottle on the table by the balcony door and the mistletoe hanging from said door, she knows it really did happen. Ali really did kiss her.

Not that this realization makes anything any clearer. For her part, Ashlyn is kind of excited that the kiss happened, but she knows better than to get her hopes up. Ali’s in a relationship – albeit an increasingly unstable one – and the last thing Ashlyn wants to do is get in the middle of that even more than she already is. So she decides to play it cool and take her cues from Ali as far as how they are going to address the situation. After all, she’s not sure the brunette even remembers what she did, given that Ali had apparently downed a good amount of Jack before making her move.

It becomes quite clear to Ashlyn over the next few days, however, that Ali does remember – and she obviously thinks it was a mistake. Despite them living under the same roof, commuting to work together, and working side by side all day, the blonde can hardly get Ali to have a conversation with her. It’s awkward silence followed by awkward conversation followed by more awkward silence for an entire work week. And with each passing day, Ashlyn grows more and more worried that Ali might fire her, throw her out of her apartment, and never speak to her again.

She knows she’s jumping to the worst case scenario too quickly, that she should just talk to Ali and straighten everything out, as it were. But every time Ashlyn even attempts to have a serious conversation, Ali finds an excuse to shut it down.

So, feeling as if the rug could be pulled from under her at any moment, Ashlyn makes a phone call she hopes isn’t as urgent as she thinks it is.

***

On the last day of the year, six days after the incident under the mistletoe, Ashlyn drags herself over to Josh’s place. He’s throwing a New Year’s Eve party later that evening, but the blonde decides to show up early, unable to stand the awkwardness that is hanging around at Ali’s place any longer. Josh is surprised to see her so early, and in the absence of a certain brunette, but he accepts her offer to help prep for the party nonetheless.

Hours later, however, when Ali shows up to the party with Derrick in tow and she and Ashlyn barely nod at each other in a greeting, he can’t hold his tongue.

“Ooookay…what was that?” he asks Ashlyn as Ali and Derrick go off to mingle with his other guests.

“What was what?” Ashlyn asks, feigning ignorance as she takes a drink of her beer.

“Don’t give me that shit, blondie. What is going on with you and Ali?”

“Nothing!” Ashlyn says, a little too eagerly.

“You are literally the world’s worst liar,” says Josh, rolling his eyes. “Come on. Out with it.”

Ashlyn sighs, knowing he’ll never let it go until he gets a real answer. “You can’t tell anyone. And you can’t say anything to Ali.”

Josh makes the universal gesture of locking his lips and throwing away the key.

“After I got back from here the other night, I found her out on the balcony,” Ashlyn practically whispers, looking around to make sure no one’s in earshot of their conversation. “She’d been out there drinking by herself and…I guess, long story short….she kissed me.”

“SHE WHAT!?” Josh yells, attracting the attention of everyone close enough to hear over the music pounding away.

Ashlyn covers his mouth and pushes him into the nearest room with a door, which she closes behind her. “Good grief, could you be a little louder?”

“Yes, I could, and if you don’t want that to happen you better start explaining,” Josh demands. Ashlyn tells him everything – from the Christmas morning dramatics to the events leading up to the kiss to the week of awkwardness that ensued. Josh takes it all in rather patiently, despite feeling like he might burst with joy, and then excuses himself, telling the blonde to stay put.

He goes back out into the main living area of his apartment, where the party is in full swing, and searches through the guests for his former boss. He doesn’t manage to find her until he gets to the kitchen, where she appears to be in an argument with her boyfriend.

“Jesus, Derrick, just one night. All I’m asking for is one night where you drop this whole protective boyfriend routine and just let me live—“

“Hey, Boss!” Josh interrupts, throwing an arm around Ali’s shoulders. “Mind if I steal this one for a minute?” he asks Derrick, not waiting for an answer before he pulls the brunette out of the kitchen.

“What the heck, Josh?” Ali asks, somewhat stunned by his actions.

“I know, you’re welcome,” he says, practically dragging her through the crowd of people and toward the bedroom in which he’d left Ashlyn. When they get there he opens the door and pushes Ali inside.

“Josh, what the hell?” This time it’s Ashlyn who’s stunned.

“Listen,” he says, placing himself in the doorway so neither of them can escape. “You two are my very favorite people in this city. I love being around you more than just about anything, but it’s like you’re trying to ruin that tonight. Now I’m not just gonna let you fuck up your friendship AND my party, so. You’re staying in here until you talk to each other and work your shit out.”

“You can’t make us stay in here,” Ashlyn says.

“Watch me, blondie.”

“What are we supposed to talk about?” Ali asks.

“Oh, gee, I dunno. Maybe you could debate the Yankees’ chances of making the playoffs this year? Maybe you can make your New Year’s resolutions? Or, gosh, maybe you could talk about the reason you’re not talking in the first place!” He backs away and starts to close the door before poking his head back in. “Do not even think about coming back out here until you are my friends again.”

Ali and Ashlyn watch the door slam shut, releasing exasperated sighs almost in unison. Ali leans against the wall and crosses her arms, while Ashlyn sits on the edge of the bed with her elbows on her knees and her eyes pointed at the floor. Several minutes pass quietly between the two of them, the only sounds coming from the living area on the other side of the door where Josh’s guests carry on without a thought of the women in the room currently sorting out their thoughts of one another.

Finally Ashlyn shakes her head and laughs dryly.

“What?” Ali asks.

“Nothing, it’s just…” the blonde finally peeks up at her with a slight grin. “Anyone who thinks the Yankees have a shot this year is out of their damn mind.”

For a moment Ali doesn’t understand, but then Josh’s words come back to her and she shakes her head, grinning along with Ashlyn. The last several days have been exhausting not talking to her best friend – although she knows it’s her own fault – and Ali is happy to see that smile again. “Oh, you never know. Maybe they can sneak in on a wild card spot.”

“Doubtful,” Ashlyn says, glad Ali is starting to break her silence. She pats the spot next to her on the bed, and the brunette takes the seat. “So, you got any resolutions?”

“Do more yoga,” Ali replies, and the blonde nods her approval. “What about you? Moving out of my place, I assume?”

“Psh. No way, Krieger. My squatter’s rights kicked in a long time ago. You want me out, you’re gonna have to see me in court,” Ashlyn jokes, half afraid Ali really does want her out.

But Ali just laughs. “Well, court is a pain, so I guess you can stay.”

“You sure about that?” Ashlyn asks, growing serious.

“Of course,” Ali assures her. “Why wouldn’t I want you to stay?”

The blonde’s shoulder’s rise and drop in a shrug. “I dunno, Al. After this week…you got me a little worried…”

Ali drops her head to look at the floor. “I’m sorry, Ash. Josh is right, this isn’t us. We should have talked long before now,” she says, knowing it’s all about to come out whether she’s ready or not. She sighs before continuing. “The other night, I…I don’t know. I guess I got caught up in everything from that day. I mean, your present, the fight with Derrick, the romantic Christmas movies, the alcohol, the mistletoe…It all just got to me. I’m sorry I made things so awkward.”

Ashlyn stares at her for a second before shaking her head. “You think kissing me is what made it awkward, Ali? I could have just written that off as the Jack talking, and I was prepared to do that. What made it awkward was you walking on eggshells around me all week. Alex, you know you can talk to me about anything, why couldn’t we just talk about this?”

When Ali looks back into Ashlyn’s comforting hazel eyes, she’s close to having tears flow from her own. “Because Kyle was right,” she says softly, looking back down again.

Ashlyn wraps her arm around the brunette’s shoulders, pulling her in for a hug to try to keep the tears from coming. “Kyle was right about what, Al?”

Suddenly the door is flung open and none other than Derrick is revealed as the one bursting onto the scene, causing Ashlyn to jump away from her embrace of Ali.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Derrick demands with an angry fire in his eyes.

“We were just talking, Derrick,” Ali says shortly, wondering where on earth Josh is right now and why he didn’t prevent this.

“Oh, give me a fucking break, Ali,” the man says, entering the room and moving to pull his girlfriend out with him. “Come on, we’re going back to my place.”

“Derrick, no,” Ali says, jerking away from his grasp. Outside the room, the party crowd begins the countdown to the new year.

**_Ten…._ **

“Ali, we’re going home,” he demands. “Tell your dyke friend goodbye.”

**_Nine…._ **

Ashlyn’s eyebrows shoot up in a flash, which is exactly how long it takes for Ali to stand and get right in her boyfriend’s face. “Excuse me?”

**_Eight…_ **

“You heard me, Ali. Say goodbye”

**_Seven…._ **

“You’re right, I did," Ali says. "Goodbye, Derrick."

**_Six…_ **

She turns back to look at Ashlyn. “I have one more resolution.”

**_Five…_ **

“What did you just say to me, Ali?”

**_Four…_ **

“What is it…?”

**_Three…_ **

“I want to be honest with myself about what I want,” Ali says with one last glance back at Derrick, whose face has turned a dangerous shade of red.

**_Two…_ **

Ashlyn stands as Josh suddenly appears behind Derrick in the doorway. “What _do_ you want?”

**_One…_ **

“This,” Ali says as she grabs the blonde’s face and presses their lips together again. The final second of the year drags on for what seems like days as the two savor the feeling of electricity between them.

**_Happy New Year!!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit! (you would not believe how fast my heart was beating as I was writing that last bit)


End file.
